ArticleMolecular biology and evolution2026
Phage toxin variants are linked to protection specificity in a defensive symbiont.
Article in Molecular biology and evolution, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Phenotypic divergence is driven by mobile genetic elements in a heritable insect symbiont.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Emergent symbiont strains provide thermally robust protection against co-evolved and novel parasitoids of introduced pea aphids.The ISME journal · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Insects often depend on symbiotic bacteria for protection; however, the mechanisms by which these microbes target specific natural enemies remain poorly understood. In aphids, different strains of the facultative symbiont Hamiltonella defensa provide highly specific protection against particular species of parasitoid wasps. To uncover the genetic basis of this specificity, we analyzed 26 Hamiltonella genomes and their toxin-encoding APSE bacteriophages with distinct protective phenotypes. Our analyses revealed that Hamiltonella strains share a conserved core genome but differ significantly in accessory gene content, reflecting their distinct evolutionary origins. Strikingly, we show that variation in toxin types is the key distinguishing feature of APSE phages in Hamiltonella strains that protect against different parasitoid species. These toxin repertoires include several novel candidates, such as variants with MAC/perforin domains and leucine-rich repeat (LRR) proteins previously unreported in insect defensive symbionts. We also reveal cases of multiple cointegrated APSE phages carrying different toxins within a single genomic locus. These findings suggest phage-borne toxins are important determinants of enemy-specific defense and point to phage-driven toxin diversification as a major force shaping the functional evolution of this symbiosis. This work highlights how mobile genetic elements influence the ecological roles and diversification of protective symbionts.
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