Episode 434 - Parasites and Symbiotic relationships

Insects and plants are locked into an arms race until something breaks the stalemate. How can a tag team attack of bacteria and insect larvae help crush through a leaf's defenses? WOrkign together as a team, larvae and bacteria can make a tasty meal out of a leaf. Plants can fight back against insets, so insects need to call out for help. A parasitic infection is bad for the host, but some ants gain an odd boost. How are tapeworms boosting the life expectancy of ants? When an ant gets infected with parasites, it's colony mates care for it boosting it's lifespan.

1. Yukiyo Yamasaki, Hiroka Sumioka, Mayu Takiguchi, Takuya Uemura, Yuka Kihara, Tomonori Shinya, Ivan Galis, Gen‐ichiro Arimura. Phytohormone‐dependent plant defense signaling orchestrated by oral bacteria of the herbivore Spodoptera litura. New Phytologist, 2021; DOI: 10.1111/nph.17444
2. Sara Beros, Anna Lenhart, Inon Scharf, Matteo Antoine Negroni, Florian Menzel, Susanne Foitzik. Extreme lifespan extension in tapeworm-infected ant workers. Royal Society Open Science, 2021; 8 (5): 202118 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202118