论文部分内容阅读
As consumers and decomposers,insects perform many environmental functions of both natural and managed systems,and have a direct impact on agricultural food production,waste management and nutrition.They can also significantly influence human and animal health by biting,stinging,or as vectors of pathogen transmission.The ecological properties that are attributed to insects are,in part,due to microbial interactions within and on the insect.Recent studies have shown that microbe-insect relationships may be mutualistic,commensal,or parasitic,where the microbial organisms influence host metabolism,immunity and reproduction.Further,studies have shown that some pathogens can manipulate phenotypic traits of their insect hosts by influencing vector biting and feeding behavior.Genomic analyses have allowed the dissection of these complex processes and provided important insight into the molecular foundations driving and shaping each member association.This presentation will highlight functional contributions by microbial consortia to insect fitness and discuss mechanisms involved in the establishment of microbe-insect associations along with their potential application for the development of new methods for management and manipulation of insect populations.