ArticleHeredity2014
Male killing Spiroplasma protects Drosophila melanogaster against two parasitoid wasps.
Article in Heredity, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
76 citing papers in PubMed, 148 citations in OpenAlex.
- Friends or foes: Unraveling the tsetse fly-Spiroplasma symbiosis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Review
- Bacterial Symbionts Associated with Wild Tsetse Flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Analysis of the genomes of a male-killingMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- Spiroplasma Are Protective Heritable Symbionts With Low Physiological Impact in the Drosophilid Fly Zaprionus kolodkinae.Environmental microbiology reports · 2026Article
- Phylogenomics, population structure, and symbiont diversity refine the systematics of Southeast Asian rice leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Symbiotic Diversity of Sap-Feeding Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera) in the Upland Landscapes of Central Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia.Microbial ecology · 2026Article
- Phylosymbiosis and functional redundancy in the Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) gut microbiome and its implications for host fitness.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Article
- Diverse toxin repertoire but limited metabolic capacities inferred from the draft genome assemblies of threeMicrobial genomics · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Defensive Symbiont Genotype Distributions Are Linked to Parasitoid Attack Networks.Ecology letters · 2025Article
- Encapsulation and Melanization Are Not Correlated to Successful Immune Defense Against Parasitoid Wasps inCells · 2025Article
- Evolution of specialized toxin arsenals in a bacterial symbiont of arthropods.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Describing endosymbiont-host interactions within the parasitism-mutualism continuum.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Article
- 'Candidatus Tisiphia' is a widespread Rickettsiaceae symbiont in the mosquito Anopheles plumbeus (Diptera: Culicidae).Environmental microbiology · 2023Article
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- Natural selection has driven the recurrent loss of an immunity gene that protectsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Microbiome Structure of a WildApplied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Maternally transmitted associations between endosymbiotic bacteria and insects are diverse and widespread in nature. Owing to imperfect vertical transmission, many heritable microbes have evolved compensational mechanisms to enhance their persistence in host lineages, such as manipulating host reproduction and conferring fitness benefits to host. Symbiont-mediated defense against natural enemies of hosts is increasingly recognized as an important mechanism by which endosymbionts enhance host fitness. Members of the genus Spiroplasma associated with distantly related Drosophila hosts are known to engage in either reproductive parasitism (i.e., male killing) or defense against natural enemies (the parasitic wasp Leptopilina heterotoma and a nematode). A male-killing strain of Spiroplasma (strain Melanogaster Sex Ratio Organism (MSRO)) co-occurs with Wolbachia (strain wMel) in certain wild populations of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. We examined the effects of Spiroplasma MSRO and Wolbachia wMel on Drosophila survival against parasitism by two common wasps, Leptopilina heterotoma and Leptopilina boulardi, that differ in their host ranges and host evasion strategies. The results indicate that Spiroplasma MSRO prevents successful development of both wasps, and confers a small, albeit significant, increase in larva-to-adult survival of flies subjected to wasp attacks. We modeled the conditions under which defense can contribute to Spiroplasma persistence. Wolbachia also confers a weak, but significant, survival advantage to flies attacked by L. heterotoma. The host protective effects exhibited by Spiroplasma and Wolbachia are additive and may provide the conditions for such cotransmitted symbionts to become mutualists. Occurrence of Spiroplasma-mediated protection against distinct parasitoids in divergent Drosophila hosts suggests a general protection mechanism.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.