And while we're on the subject of scientific journals, here's
a PLoS Pathogens study I liked so much I thought I ought to share it. (Yeah, I'm a nerd, I know, but hey, biology is cool
) Just to summarize briefly: It's about an ongoing evolutionary arms race involving a species of maternally-inherited bacteria that selectively kills males.
Male
insects, that is.
The victim is actually a species of ladybird, to be precise. I've read elsewhere about another genus of bacteria that exhibits comparable behavior (Wolbachia), but this one is especially cool because a gene sequence comparison suggests it's most closely related to similar bacteria in aphids, suggesting some unfortunate ladybird ingested this vile bacterium together with their dinner.
Bacteria that selectively kill males, are passed from mother to child and between predator and prey? The sci-fi fan in me loves this kind of stuff. Way too cool
