Insect Symbiosis

Kostas Bourtzis, Thomas A. Miller

• 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.

Each reader will find chapters to delight him- or herself. … should find a home in every biology library… a solid introduction to students, and extensive reviews of the past 20 years of research for professional investigators. They also will provide hours of enjoyable reading. The books represent the flowering of decades of research by dozens of pioneering scientists, and show how important symbiosis is to the biological sciences. The topic is so rich, and the investigators so productive that the editors could continue to produce a new volume every 3 years, indefinitely. Let’s hope they do.— Michael F. Dolan, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA... The insights from the research described in Insect Symbiosis may help turn Wolbachia into a symbiotic insecticide, allowing entomologists to control pests that carry diseases and destroy crops. At the same time, the insights found in Insect Symbiosis challenge some of the basic vocabulary we use to describe life Symbionts are turning evolutionary biology into a symphony. The evolutionary fate of a host depends not only on its own genome, but on the hidden agendas of mutualists, parasites, commensalists, and other passengers who fall somewhere in between on the spectrum of coexistence... — Carl Zimmer, From the ForewordCo-editor Thomas Miller has recently been awarded the G.J. Mendel Honorary Medal for Merit in the Biological Sciences. By awarding this medal, the Academy Council gives its highest recognition to Dr. Miller's outstanding achievements, which have been acknowledged worldwide. — Academy of Sciences of the Czech RepublicThis is the second volume in this exciting and rapidly advancing topic by these editors. … a useful addition to your library. … provides an excellent overview of the diversity of symbiont-insect relationships … new topics have been introduced and previously discussed topics have been updated. This volume is a welcome addition to your library if you are working on symbionts of insects (or nematodes!) … it provides an entry into the literature of key topics within this exciting subdiscipline."— Marjorie A. Hoy, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville in Florida Entomologist 90(1)