Matalon, Y., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Katzir, N., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Gottlieb, Y., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Portnoy, V., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Zchori-Fein, E., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Katzir, N., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Gottlieb, Y., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Portnoy, V., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
Zchori-Fein, E., The Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), Department of Vegetable Crops, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay, 30095, Israel
The bacterial symbiont Cardinium (Bacteroidetes) was previously implicated in the thelytokous reproduction of the parasitoid Plagiomerus diaspidis Crawford (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Horizontal transmission of the symbiont among the cactus scale Diaspis echinocacti Bouché (Homoptera: Diaspididae) and its hymenopteran parasitoids has been suggested. In this study, the bacteria associated with D. echinocacti, its parasitoids P. diaspidis and Aphytis sp. (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), and the hyperparasitoid Marietta leopardina Motschulsky (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) were characterized using molecular fingerprinting techniques, and the localization of Cardinium in P. diaspidis was studied using fluorescence in situ hybridizations (FISH). Cardinium was the only bacterium found in P. diaspidis, but it could not be detected in any of the other insects tested. The symbiont was specifically located in the reproductive tissues of its P. diaspidis host. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
