Novel biological function of polyester in insect-bacterium symbiosis

Researchers from AIST have demonstrated that an intestinal symbiotic bacterium, which has beneficial effects on the growth and reproduction of the bean bug (Riptortus pedestris) known as a soybean pest, accumulates polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a type of polyester, as intracellular granules under symbiotic conditions, and that this intracellular polyester accumulation is required for maintenance of the normal symbiotic relationship.

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