title: Paternal Transmission of a Secondary Symbiont during Mating in the Viviparous Tsetse Fly.
abstract: Sodalis glossinidius, a maternally inherited secondary symbiont of the tsetse fly, is a bacterium in the early/intermediate state of the transition toward symbiosis, representing an important model for investigating establishment and evolution of insect-bacteria symbiosis. The absence of phylogenetic congruence in tsetse-Sodalis coevolution and the existence of Sodalis genotypic diversity in field flies are suggestive for a horizontal transmission route. However, to date no natural mechanism for the horizontal transfer of this symbiont has been identified. Using novel methodologies for the stable fluorescent-labeling and introduction of modified Sodalis in tsetse flies, we unambiguously show that male-borne Sodalis is 1) horizontally transferred to females during mating and 2) subsequently vertically transmitted to the progeny, that is, paternal transmission. This mixed mode of transmission has major consequences regarding Sodalis' genome evolution as it can lead to coinfections creating opportunities for lateral gene transfer which in turn could affect the interaction with the tsetse host.
authors: Unit of Veterinary Protozoology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium ldevooght@itg.be jvdabbeele@itg.be.
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: De Vooght
authors: Unit of Veterinary Protozoology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Unit of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Laboratory of Myeloid Cell Immunology, VIB, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Guy
authors: G
authors: Caljon
authors: Unit of Veterinary Protozoology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors: Jos
authors: J
authors: Van Hees
authors: Unit of Veterinary Protozoology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium Laboratory of Zoophysiology, Department of Physiology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium ldevooght@itg.be jvdabbeele@itg.be.
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Van Den Abbeele
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000502:physiology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal / Q000502:physiology*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D014370:Tsetse Flies / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Glossina; Sodalis glossinidius; genetic diversity; paternal transmission; symbiont