Acyrthosiphon pisum, or pea aphid, is considered to be the model aphid for studding symbiosis. It is known that its life cycle can be easily completed in a laboratory, and more information are available about its genetics and genomics.
Most of lab cultures of different aphid species, including the pea aphid, are maintained in the labs as asexually reproduced female lines (rapid growth, short life cycle, genetically identical insects within the line,), so the Pea aphid is not an exception in this respect.
What makes Pea aphs attractive model is the availability of a number of these lines which could carry different symbionts. There are ways of transferring some symbionts from one pea aphid line to another.
Also, pea aphids are relatively large, which makes it easier to manipulate, inject, etc.
And most important, pea aphid genome has been sequenced and to some extent annotated
Citation: The International Aphid Genomics Consortium (2010) Genome Sequence of the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. PLoS Biol 8(2): e1000313. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000313
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000313
Most of lab cultures of different aphid species, including the pea aphid, are maintained in the labs as asexually reproduced female lines (rapid growth, short life cycle, genetically identical insects within the line,), so the Pea aphid is not an exception in this respect.
What makes Pea aphs attractive model is the availability of a number of these lines which could carry different symbionts. There are ways of transferring some symbionts from one pea aphid line to another.
Also, pea aphids are relatively large, which makes it easier to manipulate, inject, etc.
And most important, pea aphid genome has been sequenced and to some extent annotated
Citation: The International Aphid Genomics Consortium (2010) Genome Sequence of the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. PLoS Biol 8(2): e1000313. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000313
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000313
In addition to everything Eugene said, there otherl reasons why they were picked as a model species early, most notably their variation in host range and colour. They are nice to handle (they conveniently drop off plants when needed) and are quite easy to get DNA out of compared to some other species.
Both, Eugene and Ben gave a very comprehensive and logical answer. However, I have learned that Acyrthosiphon pisum must be a species complex. I wonder whether this fact can influence its study and investigation? I emphasize I am not an aphid specialist but worked a lot with various aphid species.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Zoology
- Invertebrate Zoology
- Entomology