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Mutualist-Provisioned Resources Impact Vector Competency
Rita V M Rio1, Anna K S Jozwick2, Amy F Savage3
1Department of Biology, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA rita.rio@mail.wvu.edu brian.weiss@yale.edu.
Mbio
|June 6, 2019
Summary
Tsetse fly symbiont Wigglesworthia produces folate (vitamin B9), which African trypanosomes exploit to infect the fly. Disrupting this folate production impacts parasite establishment and tsetse vector competence, offering disease control strategies.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology and Parasitology
- Insect-Microbe Interactions
- Vector Biology
Background:
- Symbionts often provide essential nutrients to their hosts.
- The role of symbiont-provided nutrients in enhancing parasite infections within vectors is largely unknown.
- African trypanosomes are parasites that infect tsetse flies, acting as vectors for diseases like sleeping sickness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if folate (vitamin B9) produced by the tsetse fly symbiont Wigglesworthia aids African trypanosomes in completing their life cycle.
- To determine the impact of Wigglesworthia-produced folate on trypanosome infection establishment and development within the tsetse fly.
- To explore the potential of targeting this symbiont-host-parasite interaction for disease control.
Main Methods:
- Analyzing the expression of Wigglesworthia folate biosynthesis genes during trypanosome infection.
- Disrupting Wigglesworthia folate production in tsetse flies and assessing trypanosome infection levels.
- Supplementing folate to Glossina brevipalpis flies (which have folate-deficient Wigglesworthia) and evaluating their susceptibility to trypanosome infection.
Main Results:
- Wigglesworthia folate biosynthesis gene expression varied with trypanosome infection progression.
- Disruption of Wigglesworthia folate production reduced midgut trypanosome infections but did not prevent salivary gland migration.
- Folate supplementation in susceptible tsetse flies significantly increased their susceptibility to trypanosome infection.
Conclusions:
- Wigglesworthia provides folate, a crucial metabolite exploited by African trypanosomes to enhance infectivity and establish infection in tsetse flies.
- This parasite dependence on symbiont-derived nutrients highlights a vulnerability that could be targeted to reduce disease transmission.
- Targeting microbial metabolic contributions in arthropod vectors offers a potential strategy for innovative disease control with minimal non-target effects.
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