Some nymphs of Pemphigus spyrothecae defend their colony by attacking intruders entering the pseudo-galls on poplar in which they live. One of the few European aphids with something resembling a caste system. Here, a male Lysiphlebus fabarum is being wrestled by one of these "soldiers". [4× speed]

Super grateful to have worked on this with such a talented and fun group of people! It is a really cool evolutionary story and it feels like (at least part of) a bigger mystery was solved. ✨

Nancy Moran@nancy-moran.bsky.social · last mo.

A step forward in discovering Buchnera's key to the aphid's heart, published today! Thanks to Jerry Maeda and other authors--a great team -- and to the helpful reviewers #SymbioSky doi: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

We're searching for a postdoc to work on insect-microbe symbiosis at UNC Chapel Hill ~ Project is flexible (funded from startup) with support for independence and collaboration in our broad Bio department. Details + apply: parkerlab.net/open-positions

New preprint from @pawley.bsky.social @scottnichols.bsky.social is a great testament to how intentional imaging helps untangle potential functions and mechanisms of host-microbe interactions The discovery of an external bacterial niche reconciles sequencing-based microbiomes in a freshwater sponge

The Lariviere lab at UMiami is recruiting PhD students! Incoming students will join us in studying host-microbe interactions in the honey bee gut, using molecular and genetic approaches. Please see the attached flyer for more details. #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky #PhDOpportunity #AcademicJobs

Super excited to share the results of one of my favorite projects, out now in PNAS! We uncovered the mechanism of protection against fungal pathogens in the aphid-Fukatsuia symbiosis. (1/2) www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Heritable symbiont producing nonribosomal peptide confers extreme heat sensitivity and antifungal protection on its host | PNAS

Insects frequently form associations with maternally transmitted symbiotic bacteria. This transmission mode ensures that symbiont-conferred effects...

pnas.org