Researchers from Jena show: Million-year-old insect symbioses are more fragile than expected

Symbolbild: Forscher aus Jena zeigen: Millionen Jahre alte Insekten-Symbiosen sind zerbrechlicher als gedacht

A recent study by the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena illustrates that even firmly established insect symbioses can be broken up in a very short time. In experimental observations, a newly introduced bacterium displaced the original partner of a grain beetle within just a few generations.