Genomic analysis reveals an exogenous viral symbiont with dual functionality in parasitoid wasps and their hosts
Journal: PLoS Pathogens
Year: 2020

Insects are known to host a wide variety of beneficial microbes that are fundamental to many aspects of their biology and have substantially shaped their evolution. Notably, parasitoid wasps have repeatedly evolved beneficial associations with viruses that enable developing wasps to survive as parasites that feed from other insects. Ongoing genomic sequencing efforts have revealed that most of these virus-derived entities are fully integrated into the genomes of parasitoid wasp lineages, represe