Abstract:
Interactions among living organisms fall along the mutualism-parasitism continuum; where mutualistic interactions benefit one or both organisms and parasitic interactions harm them. Mutualisms are a particularly interesting form of interaction as their evolutionary stability is constantly at risk of destabilisation by cheaters which take greater advantage of their partners than other symbionts in the population. This has resulted in organisms involved in mutualistic interactions have evolved many mechanisms to prevent destabilisation by cheaters. Insects are involved in mutualistic interactions with a myriad of organisms, in particular micro-organisms. Some of the most well documented insect–micro–organism interactions are those of the fungus–farming insects; Attine ants, termites and ambrosia beetles, and the obligate mutualistic fungi they cultivate. These mutualisms have remained stable over millions of years. Another, less well studied, apparently stable, obligate insect-fungus mutualism is the interaction between Sirex woodwasps and Amylostereum fungi. In this review we examine the evolution of mutualisms from initial interaction, through to maintenance of a stable obligate interaction, and explore the mechanisms that act to stabilise them. We explore the evolutionary and ecological factors necessary for the maintenance of the Sirex–Amylostereum mutualism in the context of work that has been done on the evolution of other more extensively studied insect-fungus mutualisms.
