Symbiosis

A close and long-term interaction between two different biological organisms. There are different types of symbiotic relationships, whose differences may not always be clearly defined.

Mutualism: An interaction in which the partners are interdependent, each benefitting from the other.

Commensalism: An interaction in which only one species benefits, whereas the other is neither helped nor harmed.

Parasitism: An interaction in which one organism (the parasite or parasitoid) gains, whereas the other (the host) suffers or dies.

Symbiont-mediated resistance, sometimes to the point that parasitoids are no longer able to control the resistant, symbiont-protected aphids (the hosts).

Symbiotic relationships may be obligate, meaning that either partner cannot survive on its own, or facultative, meaning that either partner can survive on its own.

Some authorities also include Amensalism, an association between different biological organisms in which one may be inhibited or destroyed and the other is unaffected. An example is the inhibition of bacteria by the fungus Penicillium.

The International Symbiosis Society and Springer publish the journal SYMBIOSIS, which publishes a wide range of articles on symbiotic interactions at the molecular, cellular and organismic levels.

References

Buchner, P. 1965. Endosymbiosis of Animals with Plant Microorganisms (English translation by Bertha Mueller). Interscience, New York.

Michaud, J.P., Pell, J.K., Fernando E. and Vega, E. (eds) 2018. When insect endosymbionts and plant endophytes mediate biological control outcomes. Biological Control 116: 1-2.

Moran, N.A. 2006. Symbiosis. Current Biology 16: 866–871.

Paracer, S. and, Vernon, A. 2000. Symbiosis: An Introduction to Biological Associations. Oxford University Press.

Douglas, A. 2010. The Symbiotic Habit. New Jersey: Princeton University Press,

Vorburger, C. 2017. Symbiont-conferred resistance to parasitoids in aphids - challenges for biological control. Biological Control 116: 17-26.