Sexual transmission of beneficial microbes

Chad C Smith; Ulrich G Mueller

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2015.05.006

Sexual transmission of beneficial microbes

Trends Ecol Evol. 2015 Aug;30(8):438-40. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.05.006. Epub 2015 Jun 27.

Authors

Chad C Smith¹, Ulrich G Mueller²

Affiliations

¹ The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Integrative Biology, Austin, TX 78712, USA. Electronic address: chadsmith@utexas.edu.
² The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Integrative Biology, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

PMID: 26126934
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.05.006

Abstract

Beneficial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are an understudied phenomenon with important implications for the evolution of cooperation and host reproductive behavior. Challenging the prevailing expectation that sexual transmission leads to pathogenesis, these symbionts provide new opportunities to examine how STIs might influence sexual selection and the evolution of promiscuity.

Keywords: microbiome; mutualism; polyandry; sexual selection; sexual transmission; symbiosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Aphids / microbiology
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
Biological Evolution
Culicidae / microbiology
Fungi / virology
Humans
Microbiota
Sexual Behavior, Animal*
Sexually Transmitted Diseases / microbiology
Sexually Transmitted Diseases / veterinary
Symbiosis*