Effects of symbiotic bacteria on phytopathogen vectoring by an insect

This study aims to determine how gene expression in the insect Anasa tristis varies based on symbiont status. Furthermore, it examines how these differences affect the ability of the insect to harbor a plant pathogen. This project contains samples from two tissue types within the insect: 1) the crypts, a specialized symbiont-housing region in the insect gut, and 2) the remainder of the insect body. It also contains samples from symbiont-free (aposymbiotic) and symbiotic insects that are either infected or uninfected with phytopathogenic Serratia marcescens strain Z01.