ArticleEnvironmental microbiology2018
Symbiont-mediated competition: Xenorhabdus bovienii confer an advantage to their nematode host Steinernema affine by killing competitor Steinernema feltiae.
Article in Environmental microbiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 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
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 Occupies Previously Undocumented Host Niches in the Insect-Parasitic Nematode Steinernema hermaphroditum.Environmental microbiology reports · 2026Article
- Analyses of Xenorhabdus griffiniae genomes reveal two distinct sub-species that display intra-species variation due to prophages.BMC genomics · 2024Article
- The evolution of entomopathogeny in nematodes.Ecology and evolution · 2024Review
- Article
- HETERORHABDITIS BACTERIOPHORA NEMATODES ARE SENSITIVE TO THE BACTERIAL PATHOGEN PHOTORHABDUS ASYMBIOTICA.The Journal of parasitology · 2023Article
- Post-association barrier to host switching maintained despite strong selection in a novel mutualism.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Xenorhabdus bovienii strain jolietti uses a type 6 secretion system to kill closely related Xenorhabdus strains.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Bacterial symbionts can affect several biotic interactions of their hosts, including their competition with other species. Nematodes in the genus Steinernema utilize Xenorhabdus bacterial symbionts for insect host killing and nutritional bioconversion. Here, we establish that the Xenorhabdus bovienii bacterial symbiont (Xb-Sa-78) of Steinernema affine nematodes can impact competition between S. affine and S. feltiae by a novel mechanism, directly attacking its nematode competitor. Through co-injection and natural infection assays we demonstrate the causal role of Xb-Sa-78 in the superiority of S. affine over S. feltiae nematodes during competition. Survival assays revealed that Xb-Sa-78 bacteria kill reproductive life stages of S. feltiae. Microscopy and timed infection assays indicate that Xb-Sa-78 bacteria colonize S. feltiae nematode intestines, which alters morphology of the intestine. These data suggest that Xb-Sa-78 may be an intestinal pathogen of the non-native S. feltiae nematode, although it is a nonharmful colonizer of the native nematode host, S. affine. Screening additional X. bovienii isolates revealed that intestinal infection and killing of S. feltiae is conserved among isolates from nematodes closely related to S. affine, although the underlying killing mechanisms may vary. Together, these data demonstrate that bacterial symbionts can modulate competition between their hosts, and reinforce specificity in mutualistic interactions.
Identifiers
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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.