Applied and Environmental Microbiology (1997) 63, 3294-3296

N.J. Humphreys and A.E. Douglas (1997)
Partitioning of symbiotic bacteria between generations of an insect: a quantitative study of a Buchnera sp. in the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) reared at different temperatures
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 63 (8), 3294-3296
Abstract: The population of symbiotic Buchnera bacteria in parthenogenetic females of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum was determined by quantitative hybridization of a DNA probe (groESL) to aphid homogenates. The aphids bore 1 x 10⁷ to 2 x 10⁷ bacterial cells per mg (fresh weight). In teneral aphids (i.e., aphids that had moulted to adulthood but that had not initiated reproduction), >75% of the bacteria were in the embryos, and the density of bacteria in the embryos was consistently greater than that in the maternal tissues. The bacterial density in teneral aphids increased from 1.3 x 10⁷ to 2.0 x 10⁷ cells mg (fresh weight) of aphids^-1 with temperature between 15 and 25°C. This variation could be attributed to a temperature-dependent increase in both the density of bacteria in the embryos and embryo content of the aphids.
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Database assignments for author(s): Angela E. Douglas

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Acyrthosiphon pisum