Interaction of the monoxenic trypanosomatid Blastocrithidia culicis with the Aedes aegypti salivary gland.
Blastocrithidia culicis is a monoxenous trypanosomatid that inhabits mosquitoes. Although its life cycle in these insects has not been described, we recently demonstrated that B. culicis colonizes the Aedes aegypti digestive tract and is also able to reach the mosquito's haemocoel. In this work, we describe the interaction of B. culicis with the A. aegypti salivary gland in vitro and in vivo. Ultrastructural analysis reveals different steps of the invasion process, beginning with the insertion of the B. culicis anterior flagellum into the basal lamina of the gland and ending with the protozoan inside the salivary gland acini compartment. Carbohydrates are involved in the initial adhesion of B. culicis cells to the salivary glands, as demonstrated by protozoan binding inhibition assays and fluorescent lectin labeling of the trypanosomatid-salivary gland interaction. B. culicis is able to survive after incubation in vitro in the mosquito haemolymph, and trypanosomatid binding to salivary glands was confirmed by the injection of radioactively labeled protozoa into the mosquito haemocoel. These results suggest that salivary gland invasion could be part of the B. culicis life cycle in A. aegypti, raising the possibility that B. culicis can be transmitted by these mosquitoes.
Nascimento
Michelle Tanny C
MT
Laboratório de Imunobiologia das Leishmanioses, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Garcia
Maria Carolina F
MC
da Silva
Karen Pereira
KP
Pinto-da-Silva
Lucia Helena
LH
Atella
Georgia C
GC
Motta
Maria Cristina M
MC
Saraiva
Elvira M
EM
D000330:Aedes / Q000469:parasitology*; D000818:Animals; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D005260:Female; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D011485:Protein Binding; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000469:parasitology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014351:Trypanosomatina / Q000472:pathogenicity*
D037102:Lectins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins