ArticleScientific reports2021
Aphids harbouring different endosymbionts exhibit differences in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles that can be recognized by ant mutualists.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Honeydew microbial ecology: a neglected frontier in multitrophic networks.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Review
- Symbiont dominance and microbiome dysbiosis in wheat-aphid revealed through 16 S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing analysis.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Common endosymbionts influence host sexual selection by shaping mating preferences via altered chemical communication.Evolution letters · 2026Article
- Insect Lipid Metabolism in the Presence of Symbiotic and Pathogenic Viruses and Bacteria.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- The Significance of Genetic Relatedness and Nest Sharing on the Worker-Worker Similarity of Gut Bacterial Microbiome and Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profile in a Sweat Bee.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Discrimination of Methyl-Branched Hydrocarbons by Tetramorium tsushimae Ants: a Focus on Branch Position and Chain Length.Journal of chemical ecology · 2025Article
- Effects of genotype and host environment on the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles ofProceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- The Susceptibility ofInsects · 2023Article
- Review
- Microbiome of the Aphid GenusInsects · 2022Article
- Similar cost ofEcology and evolution · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have important communicative functions for ants, which use CHC profiles to recognize mutualistic aphid partners. Aphid endosymbionts can influence the quality of their hosts as ant mutualists, via effects on honeydew composition, and might also affect CHC profiles, suggesting that ants could potentially use CHC cues to discriminate among aphid lines harbouring different endosymbionts. We explored how several strains of Hamiltonella defensa and Regiella insecticola influence the CHC profiles of host aphids (Aphis fabae) and the ability of aphid-tending ants (Lasius niger) to distinguish the profiles of aphids hosting different endosymbionts. We found significant compositional differences between the CHCs of aphids with different infections. Some endosymbionts changed the proportions of odd-chain linear alkanes, while others changed primarily methyl-branched compounds, which may be particularly important for communication. Behavioural assays, in which we trained ants to associate CHC profiles of endosymbiont infected or uninfected aphids with food rewards, revealed that ants readily learned to distinguish differences in aphid CHC profiles associated with variation in endosymbiont strains. While previous work has documented endosymbiont effects on aphid interactions with antagonists, the current findings support the hypothesis that endosymbionts also alter traits that influence communicative interactions with ant mutualists.
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