Abstract
IT has long been known that special cells (bacteriocytes) within the abdominal fat body of the cockroach are packed with rod-shaped bodies presumed to be symbionts1. This intracellular symbiosis, obligatory in Blattariae, is unusual in that cockroaches are omnivorous and symbionts occur predominantly in insects the diet of which is deficient in certain essential nutrients. The production of symbiont-free cockroaches, so-called aposymbiotic insects, is an aid to the investigation of the significance of the symbiosis. Several authors2–5 have reported the elimination of the cockroach symbionts by feeding or injecting antibiotics and bactericidal drugs.
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References
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MALKE, H. Production of Aposymbiotic Cockroaches by means of Lysozyme. Nature 204, 1223–1224 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1038/2041223a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2041223a0
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