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IMAGE: Researchers at Drexel University have revealed the evolutionary forces that affect endosymbiont dynamics in pea aphids. view more
Credit: Drexel University/Linyao Peng
Evolution is unfolding in real time within many natural animal populations and researchers are now observing how this influences biodiversity in the field. In a newly published study in
Molecular Ecology a team of Drexel University scientists examined the biological variations in pea aphids, insects that reproduce frequently enough to evolve before our eyes, by tracing the prevalence of their protective endosymbiont, Hamiltonella defensa, which the insects use to ward off parasitoid wasps.
"We know that certain organisms have many generations in a season, and we know sometimes it just takes a handful of generations for evolution to unfold; and aphids are one of those types of organisms," explained Jacob A. Russell, PhD, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, and senior author on the study.