Parasites can affect and be affected by the host's microbiome, with consequences for host susceptibility, parasite transmission, and host and parasite fitness. Yet, two aspects of the relationship between parasite infection and host microbiota remain little understood: the nature of the relationship under field conditions, and how the relationship varies among parasites. To overcome these limitations, we performed a field surv...

The outcome of natural enemy attack in insects is commonly influenced by the presence of protective symbionts in the host. The degree to which protection functions in natural populations, however, will depend on the robustness of the phenotype and symbiosis to variation in the abiotic environment. We studied the impact of a key environmental parameter—temperature—on the efficacy of the protective effect of the symbiont Spiropl...

Interbreeding species often produce low‐fitness hybrids due to genetic incompatibilities between parental genomes. Whether these incompatibilities reflect fixed allelic differences between hybridizing species, or, alternatively, standing variants that segregate within them, remains unknown for many natural systems. Yet, evaluating these alternatives is important for understanding the origins and nature of species boundaries. W...

Summary As a species complex, P seudomonas syringae exists in both agriculture and natural aquatic habitats. P . viridiflava , a member of this complex, has been reported to be phenotypically largely homogenous. We characterized strains from different habitats, selected based on their genetic similarity to previously described P . viridiflava strains. We revealed two distinct phylogroups and two different kinds of variability...