Spruce bark beetles hijack their host tree’s chemical defenses, transforming them into potent weapons against fungal threats.

Then there is the fungus, Beauveria bassiana. This fungus is neither the tree’s nor the beetle’s friend; as a pathogenic ...

Bark beetles convert spruce tree defenses into more potent antimicrobials to protect themselves, but a fungus can neutralize ...

Learn more about the chemical arms race between a fungus, a tree, and a beetle.

Spruce bark is rich in phenolic compounds that protect trees from pathogenic fungi. A research team at the Max Planck ...

Spruce bark is rich in phenolic compounds that protect trees from pathogenic fungi. A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena investigated how these plant defenses ...

Scientists have discovered that beneficial root-dwelling fungi boost plant resilience to disease by remodeling the plant cell membrane at pathogen infection sites—offering critical new insights into ...

The insect-pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana detoxifies the defense substances of the beetles, which originate from plant precursors, and can successfully infect these insects.