title: Asaia, a versatile acetic acid bacterial symbiont, capable of cross-colonizing insects of phylogenetically distant genera and orders.
abstract: Bacterial symbionts of insects have been proposed for blocking transmission of vector-borne pathogens. However, in many vector models the ecology of symbionts and their capability of cross-colonizing different hosts, an important feature in the symbiotic control approach, is poorly known. Here we show that the acetic acid bacterium Asaia, previously found in the malaria mosquito vector Anopheles stephensi, is also present in, and capable of cross-colonizing other sugar-feeding insects of phylogenetically distant genera and orders. PCR, real-time PCR and in situ hybridization experiments showed Asaia in the body of the mosquito Aedes aegypti and the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus, vectors of human viruses and a grapevine phytoplasma respectively. Cross-colonization patterns of the body of Ae. aegypti, An. stephensi and S. titanus have been documented with Asaia strains isolated from An. stephensi or Ae. aegypti, and labelled with plasmid- or chromosome-encoded fluorescent proteins (Gfp and DsRed respectively). Fluorescence and confocal microscopy showed that Asaia, administered with the sugar meal, efficiently colonized guts, male and female reproductive systems and the salivary glands. The ability in cross-colonizing insects of phylogenetically distant orders indicated that Asaia adopts body invasion mechanisms independent from host-specific biological characteristics. This versatility is an important property for the development of symbiont-based control of different vector-borne diseases.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Alimentari e Microbiologiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crotti
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Damiani
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pajoro
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gonella
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rizzi
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Negri
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scuppa
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ballarini
authors.forename: Noura
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raddadi
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marzorati
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sacchi
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Clementi
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Genchi
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mandrioli
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bandi
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Favia
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alma
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Daffonchio
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D016947:Acetobacteraceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D009033:Culicidae / Q000382:microbiology; D004199:Disease Vectors; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000382:microbiology; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D019342:Acetic Acid