Review
Nature Reviews Microbiology 6, 752-762 (October 2008) | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1958
Focus on: Symbiosis
Symbiotic conversations are revealed under genetic interrogation
Edward G. Ruby1 About the author
Abstract
The recent development and application of molecular genetics to the symbionts of invertebrate animal species have advanced our knowledge of the biochemical communication that occurs between the host and its bacterial symbionts. In particular, the ability to manipulate these associations experimentally by introducing genetic variants of the symbionts into naive hosts has allowed the discovery of novel colonization mechanisms and factors. In addition, the role of the symbionts in inducing normal host development has been revealed, and its molecular basis described. In this Review, I discuss many of these developments, focusing on what has been discovered in five well-understood model systems.
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Author affiliations
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Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Room 5203 Microbial Sciences Building, 1550 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1521, USA.
Email: egruby@wisc.edu
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