Immunity and Invasive Success

Biological invasions can be serious threats to local and even global biodiversity, but despite much study, little is known about the factors that enable particular introduced species to be successful invaders (1). On page 862 of this issue, Vilcinskas et al. (2) report an important advance in unders...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2013-05, Vol.340 (6134), p.816-817
Main Author: Reynolds, Stuart E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biological
Entomology
Harmonia axyridis
Immune system
Immunity
Insects
Nonnative species
Pathogens
Pathology
PERSPECTIVES
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Summary:Biological invasions can be serious threats to local and even global biodiversity, but despite much study, little is known about the factors that enable particular introduced species to be successful invaders (1). On page 862 of this issue, Vilcinskas et al. (2) report an important advance in understanding these factors. They show that the almost worldwide invasive triumph of the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (3) depends on the presence of a coexisting pathogen within the invading insect and also the insect's immunity to the pathogen.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1238998