Larvae Protected From Pathogens

a wasp with black and bright yellow stripes sits on a tan piece of grass

Biological Strategy

Beewolf digger wasp

AskNature Team

Image: Will George / Flickr / CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution alone

Protect From Fungi

Fungi–which include molds and mushrooms, amongst others–play important roles in every ecosystem, but can also create diseases in plants and animals. Fungi can rapidly reproduce, so living systems must fend them off early to avoid their spread and potential, physical harm. Living systems use both physical and chemical strategies to protect from fungi, and must ensure that these strategies don’t harm the threatened living system itself. For example, a pumpkin’s skin has antifungal proteins to prevent fungal growth without harming the pumpkin itself.

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Protect From Microbes

In living systems, microbes play important roles, such as breaking down organic matter and maintaining personal and system health. But they also pose threats. Bacteria can be pathogens that cause diseases. Some bacteria create colonies called biofilms that can coat surfaces, reducing their effectiveness–for example, inhibiting a leaf’s ability to photosynthesize. Living systems must have strategies for protecting from microbes that cause disease or become so numerous that they create an imbalance in the system. At the same time, living systems must continue living in harmony with other microbes. Some living systems kill microbes. Others repel without killing to reduce the chances that microbes will adapt to the lethal strategy and become resistant to it. For example, some pea seedlings exude a chemical that inhibits biofilm buildup.

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Insects

Class Insecta (“an insect”): Flies, ants, beetles, cockroaches, fleas, dragonflies

Insects are the most abundant arthropods—they make up 90% of the animals in the phylum. They’re found everywhere on earth except the deep ocean, and scientists estimate there are millions of insects not yet described. Most live on land, but many live in freshwater or saltwater marshes for part of their life cycles. Insects have three distinct body sections: a head, which has specialized mouthparts, a thorax, which has jointed legs, and an abdomen. They have well-developed nervous and sensory systems, and are the only invertebrate that can fly, thanks to their lightweight exoskeletons and small size.

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The larvae of beewolf digger wasps are protected from pathogenic microbes thanks to bacterial symbionts.

“Beewolf digger wasps cultivate specific symbiotic bacteria (Streptomyces
spp.) that are incorporated into the larval cocoon for protection
against pathogens. We identified the molecular basis of this protective
in the natural context and demonstrate that the bacteria
produce a ‘cocktail’ of nine antibiotic substances. The complementary
action of all symbiont-produced antibiotics confers a potent
antimicrobial defense for the wasp larvae that parallels the
‘combination prophylaxis’ known from human medicine.” (Kroiss et al. 2010:261)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100228131339.htm
http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/v6/n4/full/nchembio.331.html

Last Updated August 18, 2016

References

Journal article

Symbiotic streptomycetes provide antibiotic combination prophylaxis for wasp offspring

Nature Chemical Biology | 28/02/2010 | Johannes Kroiss, Martin Kaltenpoth, Bernd Schneider, Maria-Gabriele Schwinger, Christian Hertweck, Ravi Kumar Maddula, Erhard Strohm, Aleš Svatoš

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