Evolution of large Spiroplasma genomes in sympatric species of Morpho butterflies

Analyses of the endosymbiont Spiroplasma in different populations of Morpho butterflies living in sympatry. We were interested in understanding: (1) how much endosymbionts are shared across species (2) how their genomes, and more specifically their toxin genes, evolved in these closely related hosts and (3) how they are transmitted within and among species.