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Martha Hunter, PhD, conducts research largely focused on understanding the evolutionary biology and ecology of parasitoids and predators important in biological control of agricultural pests. A group that has been central to much of her research are members of the aphelinid genus Encarsia, parasitoids of whiteflies and scale insects. Recently, the theme of her research has turned to the role of symbiotic microorganisms on the ecology and evolution of natural enemies. Dr. Hunter has found a bacterial symbiont in the Bacteroidetes, recently named Cardinium hertigii, that is unrelated to the better known proteobacterium, Wolbachia, but also manipulates the reproduction of is hosts in ways that enhances its transmission. Like Wolbachia, it induces parthenogenesis as well as cytoplasmic incompatibility in the autoparasitoid genus Encarsia, two reproductive phenotypes thought to be unique to Wolbachia.

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Courses
  • SSHICE
    Secrets of Success: How Insects Conquered Earth!

  • REE
    Research in Ecology and Evolution

  • IBII
    Introductory Biology II

  • MIS
    Methods in Insect Science

Grants
  • Funding agency logo
    Symbiont Transmission Constraints and Consequences in the Orchard Bug Pest Leptoglossus Zonatus

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2023

    $646.2K
    Active
  • Funding agency logo
    Nematicidal and Phytotoxic Efficacy of Photorhabdus Metabolites for Control of Plant Parasites

    Key Personnel (KP)

    2022

    $225.0K
    Active
  • Funding agency logo
    Collaborative Research: The Saboteur's Tools: Mechanisms for Host Reproductive Manipulation by the Bacterial Arthropod Endosymbiont Cardinium Hertigii

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2020

    $375.0K
    Active
  • Funding agency logo
    Does An Environmentally-Acquired Beneficial Symbiont Shape The Biology Of A Leaf-Footed Bug Pest?

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2019

    $455.0K
    Active
  • Funding agency logo
    The Role of Mircoorganisms on Beetle Wings

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2017

    $90.0K
  • Funding agency logo
    Genetic & Cytogenetic Bases of Cardinium-Caused Cytoplasmic Incompatibility in Arthropods

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2013

    $520.0K
  • Funding agency logo
    Symbiocontrol- The role of bacterial symbiont Cardinium in shaping the ecology and evolution of an insect parasitoid wasp: fundamental studies...

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2013

    $11.3K
  • Funding agency logo
    The cause and consequences of remarkable fitness benefits conferred on the sweetpotato whitefly by its bacterial endosymbiont, Rickettsia

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2011

    $445.3K
  • Funding agency logo
    Dissertation Research: Inducible egg stacking defends against parasitism in a seed beetle

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2011

    $8.2K
  • Funding agency logo
    Understanding the Breakneck Spread of a Rickettsia Symbiont in an Invasive Whitefly: Mechanisms and Conditional Effects

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2010

    $720.5K
News
  • 6 From UA Recognized in New Class of Fellows by AAAS

    2017

  • Russian Dolls of the Bug World

    2012

  • This Beetle Uses Eggs as Shields Against Wasps

    2011

  • Aphids Saved From Gruesome Death by Virus-Infected Bacteria

    2009

  • The Right Hitchhiker Can Save an Aphid's Life

    2005

  • Awards for Excellence 2004: Suzanne Kelly

    2004

  • Ecologists Reveal War Triangle Among Aphids, Wasps and Bacteria

    2002

Publications (132)
Recent
  • One of two co-infecting Cardinium symbiont strains causes cytoplasmic incompatibility and localizes outside of sperm cells in Encarsia partenopea

    2022

  • Sex-based de novo transcriptome assemblies of the parasitoid wasp Encarsia suzannae, a host of the manipulative heritable symbiont Cardinium hertigii

    2022

  • Development of common leaf-footed bug pests depends on the presence and identity of their environmentally-acquired symbionts.

    2022

  • Hiding in plain sight: Cryptic enemies are found on cochineal (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae), a scale insect of economic and cultural significance

    2022

  • Quality over quantity: unraveling the contributions to cytoplasmic incompatibility caused by two coinfecting Cardinium symbionts

    2022

  • Cryptic enemies of the economically- and culturally-important scale insect, cochineal (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae)

    2021

  • Cardinium localization during its parasitoid wasp host’s development provides insights into cytoplasmic incompatibility.

    2020

  • Cardinium Localization During Its Parasitoid Wasp Host’s Development Provides Insights Into Cytoplasmic Incompatibility

    2020

  • Continent-scale sampling reveals fine-scale turnover in a beneficial bug symbiont

    2020

  • The saboteur's tools: Common mechanistic themes across manipulative symbioses

    2020

  • What goes up might come down: the spectacular spread of an endosymbiont is followed by its decline a decade later

    2020

  • Sex ratios in haplodiploid herbivores (Aleyrodidae and Thysanoptera): A review and tools for study.

    2019

  • Geography of an environmentally-acquired symbiosis: Is the bug-Burkholderia mutualism spatially structured?

    2019

  • Development of a multi-locus sequence typing system helps reveal the evolution of Cardinium hertigii, a reproductive manipulator of insects.

    2019

  • Exposure to opposing temperature regimes causes comparable effects on Cardinium density but contrasting effects on Cardinium-caused cytoplasmic incompatibility.

    2019

  • Exposure to opposing temperature extremes causes comparable effects on Cardinium density but contrasting effects on Cardinium-induced cytoplasmic …

    2019

  • What goes up might come down: The spectacular spread of an endosymbiont is followed by its decline a decade later.

    2019

  • Determining the egg fertilization rate of Bemisia tabaci using a cytogenetic technique

    2019

  • Sex ratios in the haplodiploid herbivores, Aleyrodidae and Thysanoptera: A review and tools for study

    2019

  • Program Symposium: Insect Microbiomes: Traversing Disciplines to Understand and Manage Helpful and Harmful Hexapods

    2018

  • Developing the bug-Burkholderia symbiosis as a model for studying environmental symbiont acquisition

    2018

  • Comparative genomics of Cardinium reveals new candidates for genes underlying Cardinium-induced reproductive manipulations.

    2018

  • The communication that divides us

    2018

  • Enrichment of low-density symbionts from minute insects

    2018

  • Enrichment of low-density symbiont DNA from minute insects.

    2018

  • Do environmentally-acquired Burkholderia symbionts serve as a reservoir of local adaptations for their insect hosts?

    2017

  • Bacterial communities in cochineal insect species of Arizona

    2017

  • Revision of the Encarsia pergandiella species complex (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), parasitoids of whitefly pests.

    2017

  • Does the endosymbiont Rickettsia modify the feeding behavior of its insect host?

    2017

  • Transcriptome sequencing suggests convergent evolution of cytoplasmic incompatibility and host cell interaction in unrelated arthropod symbionts.

    2017

  • Reproductive interference and fecundity affect competitive interactions of sibling species with low mating barriers: Experimental and theoretical evidence

    2017

  • A revision of the Encarsia pergandiella species complex (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) shows cryptic diversity in parasitoids of whitefly pests

    2017

  • Reproductive interference, hybrid sterility and fecundity affect competitive interactions of sibling species with low mating barriers: Experimental and theoretical evidence.

    2017

  • A comparative genomic approach to understanding the genes underlying symbiont-induced reproductive manipulations in Cardinium hertigii.

    2017

  • Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Novel Candidate Genes for Cardinium hertigii-Caused Cytoplasmic Incompatibility and Host-Cell Interaction

    2017

  • Host nuclear genotype influences phenotype of a conditional mutualist symbiont

    2017

  • Cytological analysis of cytoplasmic incompatibility induced by Cardinium suggests convergent evolution with its distant cousin Wolbachia.

    2017

  • Changing fitness effects of a transformational bacterial endosymbiont on its invasive whitefly host

    2017

  • Conditional fitness benefits of the Rickettsia bacterial symbiont in an insect pest

    2016

  • Cryptic diversity, reproductive isolation and cytoplasmic incompatibility in a classic biological control success story

    2016

  • “Darwin's corollary” and cytoplasmic incompatibility induced by Cardinium may contribute to speciation in Encarsia wasps (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    2016

  • Diversity of symbiotic bacteria associated with Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in cassava mosaic disease pandemic areas of Tanzania

    2015

  • Dynamics of the Endosymbiont Rickettsia in an Insect Pest

    2015

  • Bacterial endosymbionts in field-collected samples of Trialeurodes sp. nr. abutiloneus (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

    2014

  • The facultative symbiont Rickettsia protects an invasive whitefly against entomopathogenic Pseudomonas syringae strains

    2014

  • Factors Affecting the Strength of Cardinium-Induced Cytoplasmic Incompatibility in the Parasitic Wasp Encarsia pergandiella (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    2014

  • Egg and time limitation mediate an egg protection strategy

    2014

  • Symbiont infection affects whitefly dynamics in the field

    2014

  • Characteristics, Phenotype, and Transmission of Wolbachia in the Sweet Potato Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), and Its Parasitoid Eretmocerus sp. nr …

    2014

  • Delay, avoidance and protection in oviposition behaviour in response to fine-scale variation in egg parasitism risk

    2013

  • Comparative Genomics Suggests an Independent Origin of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility in Cardinium hertigii

    2012

  • Mothers modify eggs into shields to protect offspring from parasitism

    2012

  • Comparative Genomics Suggests an Independent Origin of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility

    2012

  • Parasitic wasp responses to symbiont-based defense in aphids

    2012

  • Horizontal transmission of the insect symbiont Rickettsia is plant-mediated

    2012

  • Rickettsia ‘In’ and ‘Out’: Two Different Localization Patterns of a Bacterial Symbiont in the Same Insect Species

    2011

  • Endosymbiont costs and benefits in a parasitoid infected with both Wolbachia and Cardinium

    2011

  • Rapid spread of a bacterial symbiont in an invasive whitefly is driven by fitness benefits and female bias

    2011

  • Parasitoid bacterial symbionts as markers of within‐host competitive outcomes: superparasitoid advantage and sex ratio bias

    2011

  • Superinfection of cytoplasmic incompatibility-inducing Wolbachia is not additive in Orius strigicollis (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae)

    2011

  • Population dynamics and rapid spread of Cardinium, a bacterial endosymbiont causing cytoplasmic incompatibility in Encarsia pergandiella (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    2010

  • Extraordinarily widespread and fantastically complex: comparative biology of endosymbiotic bacterial and fungal mutualists of insects

    2010

  • OOS 49-6: Dramatic invasion of Rickettsia in a whitefly population in the Southwestern United States

    2010

  • Assessments of Fitness Effects by the Facultative Symbiont Rickettsia in the Sweetpotato Whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

    2009

  • Cytoplasmic incompatibility in the parasitic wasp Encarsia inaron: disentangling the roles of Cardinium and Wolbachia symbionts

    2009

  • Almost there: transmission routes of bacterial symbionts between trophic levels

    2009

  • Inherited fungal and bacterial endosymbionts of a parasitic wasp and its cockroach host

    2009

  • Feminization and the collapse of haplodiploidy in an asexual parasitoid wasp harboring the bacterial symbiont Cardinium

    2009

  • Negative fitness consequences and transmission dynamics of a heritable fungal symbiont of a parasitic wasp

    2009

  • Bacteriophages encode factors required for protection in a symbiotic mutualism

    2009

  • OOS 31-4: Parasitic wasp responses to symbiont-based defense in aphids

    2009

  • Population dynamics of defensive symbionts in aphids

    2008

  • Population and evolutionary genetics-Population biology of cytoplasmic incompatibility: Maintenance and spread of Cardinium symbionts in a parasitic wasp

    2008

  • Population biology of cytoplasmic incompatibility: maintenance and spread of Cardinium symbionts in a parasitic wasp

    2008

  • Inherited bacterial symbionts influence host selection behavior of a whitefly parasitoid

    2007

  • Heterospecific ovicide influences the outcome of competition between two endoparasitoids, Encarsia formosa and Encarsia luteola

    2007

  • Cytological evidence for two different mechanisms of thelytokous parthenogenesis in Encarsia parasitoids harbouring Wolbachia or Cardinium bacteria

    2007

  • Manipulation of oviposition choice of the parasitoid wasp, Encarsia pergandiella, by the endosymbiotic bacterium Cardinium

    2007

  • The mechanism of parthenogenesis-induction by the bacterial endosymbiont Cardinium suggests independent origins from Wolbachia

    2006

  • Inherited Bacteroidetes symbionts in arthropods

    2006

  • Thank you to Charu

    2006

  • The emerging diversity of Rickettsia

    2006

  • Cytoplasmic incompatibility and multiple symbiont infection in the ash whitefly parasitoid, Encarsia inaron

    2006

  • Variation in resistance to parasitism in aphids is due to symbionts not host genotype

    2005

  • Reconsideration of the role of yeasts associated with Chrysoperla green lacewings

    2005

  • Characterization of a ‘Bacteroidetes’ symbiont in Encarsia wasps (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae): proposal of ‘Candidatus Cardinium hertigii’

    2004

  • Costs and benefits of a superinfection of facultative symbionts in aphids

    2004

  • Cardinium, a newly discovered symbiont in the Bacteroidetes, causes cytoplasmic incompatibility in Encarsia parasitoids

    2004

  • NEW TAXA-Other Bacteria-Characterization of a'Bacteroidetes' symbiont in Encarsia wasps (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae): Proposal of'Candidatus Cardinium hertigii'

    2004

  • A bacterial symbiont in the Bacteroidetes induces cytoplasmic incompatibility in the parasitoid wasp Encarsia pergandiella

    2003

  • Facultative bacterial symbionts in aphids confer resistance to parasitic wasps

    2003

  • Bacterial symbionts of pea aphids confer resistance to parasitic wasps

    2003

  • Does an autoparasitoid disrupt host suppression provided by a primary parasitoid?

    2002

  • Ovipositional preference and larval–early adult performance of two generalist lacewing predators of aphids in pecans

    2002

  • Developmental rates of two congeneric parasitoids, Encarsia formosa and E. pergandiella (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), utilizing different egg provisioning strategies

    2002

  • Egg size, intrinsic competition, and lethal interference in the parasitoids Encarsia pergandiella and Encarsia formosa

    2002

  • Sex ratios of parasitic Hymenoptera with unusual life-histories

    2002

  • Yeast symbionts in the green lacewing, Chrysoperla sp.(Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)

    2002

  • Alleyne, Marianne, 116 Alomar, Oscar, 123 Andorno, A., 259

    2002

  • Distribution and phenotypic effects of a Cytophaga-relative bacterial symbiont in Encarsia parasitoids

    2002

  • Lethal interference competition in the whitefly parasitoids Eretmocerus eremicus and Encarsia sophia

    2001

  • Variation in the outcome of competition between two aphid species on pecan: plants matter more than predators

    2001

  • A newly discovered bacterium associated with parthenogenesis and a change in host selection behavior in parasitoid wasps

    2001

  • Evolution and behavioral ecology of heteronomous aphelinid parasitoids

    2001

  • Reproductive phenotypes of Encarsia parasitoids infected with a newly-discovered bacterial symbiont

    2001

  • Ovicide in the whitefly parasitoid, Encarsia formosa

    2000

  • Fringe benefits in arthropods

    2000

  • Population Dynamics of Pecan Aphids and Their Green Lacewing Predators in Insecticide-Free Pecans

    2000

  • The influence of parthenogenesis-inducing Wolbachia on the oviposition behaviour and sex-specific developmental requirements of autoparasitoid wasps.

    1999

  • Hyperparasitism by an exotic autoparasitoid: secondary host selection and the window of vulnerability of conspecific and native heterospecific hosts

    1998

  • Divergent Host Relationships of Males and Females in the Parasitoid Encarsia porteri (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    1996

  • Courtship behavior, reproductive relationships, and allozyme patterns of three North American populations of Eretmocerus nr. californicus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae …

    1996

  • Secondary host choice by the autoparasitoid Encarsia pergandiella

    1996

  • The population dynamics of the white peach scale and its parasitoids in a mulberry orchard in Campania, Italy

    1995

  • Heterotrophic parasitoids revisited: preliminary observations on Encarsia porteri (Encarsia porteri (Mercet)(Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    1995

  • Ecological determinants of sex allocation in an autoparasitoid wasp

    1995

  • Heterotrophic parasitoids revisited: preliminary observations on Encarsia porteri (Mercet)(Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae).

    1995

  • Heteronomous hyperparasitoids, sex ratios and adaptations: a reply

    1994

  • Object-oriented simulation modeling in the biological in the biological control of Bemisia tabaci

    1994

  • Abstracts of Papers Presented at The International Workshop onBemisia Spp. October 3–7, 1994 Shoresh Hotel and Conference Center, Shoresh, Israel

    1994

  • Origin of males by genome loss in an autoparasitoid wasp

    1993

  • Sex allocation in a field population of an autoparasitoid

    1993

  • Sex ratios of heteronomous hyperparasitoids: adaptive or non-adaptive?

    1992

  • Male production induced by antibiotic treatment inEncarsia formosa (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), an asexual species

    1992

  • Status of the biological control of pests

    1992

  • Sex ratio in an autoparasitoid, Encarsia pergandiella Howard (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    1991

  • ENVIRONMENT UPDATE

    1991

  • Sex allocation and egg distribution of an autoparasitoid, Encarsia pergandiella (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    1989

  • Suitability of stages of femaleEncarsia pergandiella [Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae] for development of conspecific male hyperprasites

    1989

  • Suitability of stages of female Encarsia pergandiella (Hym: Aphelinidae) for development of conspecific male hyperparasites

    1989

  • Benefits and risks of genetic engineering in agriculture

    1989

  • Sex ratio, egg distribution, and stage-specific development of an autoparasitoid, Encarsia pergandiella Howard (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

    1987

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