News From the Field

Study of Insect Bacteria Reveals Genetic Secrets of Symbiosis


June 20, 2013

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University of Montana microbiologist John McCutcheon and his research partners recently delved deeper into the genes involved in the "tripartite nested mealybug symbiosis," and their work was published in the June 20 issue of Cell, a prestigious scientific journal. The researchers discovered the already complex, three-way symbiosis actually depends on genes from six different organisms--three more than the number of species that currently exist in the symbiosis.Full Story

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University of Montana

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