Kostas Bourtzis – författare

Insect Symbiosis summarizes the current knowledge of the relationship between symbiotic organisms and their insect hosts and provides an unparalleled analysis of cutting-edge research on this issue. Findings from international experts reveal possible new ways to control disease-carrying insects and agricultural pests worldwide. An examination of Wolbachia, considered by many as a vehicle to deliver anti-malarial and anti-plant virus strategies, is also included. Written by an interdisciplinary team of experts, this book serves as a great reference on host-parasitic relationships for professionals from a broad range of fields.

Summarizing current knowledge on symbiotic organisms in the biology of insects, Insect Symbiosis, Volume IIdescribes the diversity of symbiotic bacteria associated with pests such as whiteflies, aphids, mealybugs, psyllids, and tsetse flies. The book illustrates how symbiosis research has important ramifications for evolutionary biology, physiology, parasitology, genetics, and animal behavior and is especially relevant to the control of agricultural and disease-carrying pests.In this second volume, a few repeat authors describe brand new aspects of their research, while a new group covers recently developing aspects of symbiotic relationships. The book includes updated information on Wolbachia biology and how it influences insect life, supplies two new examples of using symbionts in crop protection, and discusses the recent “bug in a bug” mealy bug case. The book provides analysis and synthesis of cutting-edge research in insect symbiosis that sheds light on the evolution of the host/symbiont relationship, and in turn, on the general study of evolution, physiology, and genetics.

In the English edition of his landmark book Endosymbiosis of Animals with Plant Microorganisms (1965), Professor Paul Buchner is probably the most prominent founder of systematic symbiosis research. Summarizing the most up-to-date information available on bacterial symbionts of arthropods, this text provides an overview of primary symbionts as well as the most abundant secondary symbionts known to date. To encourage the integration of theory and practice in efforts to find innovative routes to pest and disease management, the editors bring together entomologists and microbiologists to create a full picture of the complex systems. Including diagrams, tables, graphs, pictures, and chemical structures, the text offers comprehensive information and a unique perspective on a fast-growing field.

The associations between insects and microorganisms, while pervasive and of paramount ecological importance, have been relatively poorly understood. The third book in this set, Insect Symbiosis, Volume 3, complements the previous volumes in exploring this somewhat uncharted territory. Like its predecessors, Volume 3 illustrates how symbiosis research has important ramifications for evolutionary biology, microbiology, parasitology, physiology, genetics, and animal behavior, and is especially relevant to the control of agricultural and disease-carrying pests worldwide.Insect Symbiosis, Volume 3, includes pioneering chapters on Paratransgenesis in termites, Bacterial symbionts in anopheles spp. and other mosquito vectors, Endosymbionts of lice, and the Structure and function of the bacterial community associated with the Mediterranean fruit fly. These individual studies suggest practical applications in pest control involving novel, pesticide-free, biological control approaches.This new volume adds to the growing body of knowledge on the ubiquitous endosymbiont Wolbachia. This bacterial genus and its potential as a weapon against insect pests and vectors have been covered in the first two volumes of Insect Symbiosis. Volume 3 contains chapters on Wolbachia and anopheles mosquitoes, Feminizing Wolbachia and the evolution of sex determination in isopods, and Wolbachia–induced sex reversal in Lepidoptera. The book examines symbiotic relationships in the context of how host organisms recognize their own cells as self and other cells or potentially parasitic or pathogenic organisms as nonself, allowing researchers to make predictions of compatible and incompatible interactions. Following in the tradition of the first two volumes, this book serves as a great reference on host-parasitic relationships for professionals from a broad range of disciplines.