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Mosquito-Bacteria Symbiosis: The Case of Anopheles gambiae and Asaia

Microbial Ecology volume 60, pages 644–654 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The symbiotic relationship between Asaia, an α-proteobacterium belonging to the family Acetobacteriaceae, and mosquitoes has been studied mainly in the Asian malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. Thus, we have investigated the nature of the association between Asaia and the major Afro-tropical malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. We have isolated Asaia from different wild and laboratory reared colonies of A. gambiae, and it was detected by PCR in all the developmental stages of the mosquito and in all the specimens analyzed. Additionally, we have shown that it localizes in the midgut, salivary glands and reproductive organs. Using recombinant strains of Asaia expressing fluorescent proteins, we have demonstrated the ability of the bacterium to colonize A. gambiae mosquitoes with a pattern similar to that described for A. stephensi. Finally, fluorescent in situ hybridization on the reproductive tract of females of A. gambiae showed a concentration of Asaia at the very periphery of the eggs, suggesting that transmission of Asaia from mother to offspring is likely mediated by a mechanism of egg-smearing. We suggest that Asaia has potential for use in the paratransgenic control of malaria transmitted by A. gambiae.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported by the Firb-Ideas (grant RBID082MLZ) and Prin 2007 (grant 2007PK2HB7_002), both from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR), and by the EU-FP7 Capacities-Infrastructure 2008 (grant 228421) to G.F.

E.C. and P.R. benefited of travel grant from the COST Action FA0701 and support from the Swedish Research Council to I.F. and A.K.

I.R. was funded by “Compagnia di San Paolo” in the context of the Italian Malaria Network.

We thank Kristina Havas for English revision of the manuscript.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Scuola di Bioscienze e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Camerino, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032, Camerino, Italy

    Claudia Damiani, Irene Ricci, Paolo Rossi, Patrizia Scuppa, Aida Capone, Ulisse Ulissi, Sara Epis, Fulvio Esposito & Guido Favia

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Alimentari e Microbiologiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Elena Crotti, Aurora Rizzi, Bessem Chouaia & Daniele Daffonchio

  3. Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università degli Studi di Pavia, P.zza Botta 9, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Marco Genchi & Luciano Sacchi

  4. Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme (CNRFP), 01B.P.2208, Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

    N’Fale Sagnon & Guelbeogo W. Moussa

  5. Department of Genetics Microbiology and Toxicology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius v. 16 E-F, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ingrid Faye

  6. Department of Molecular and Applied Biosciences, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St., London, W1W 6UW, UK

    Angray Kang

  7. Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel St., London, WC1 7HT, UK

    Cheryl Whitehorn

  8. Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/D, 41125, Modena, Italy

    Mauro Mandrioli

  9. Dipartimento di Patologia Animale, Igiene e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Claudio Bandi

Authors
  1. Claudia Damiani
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  2. Irene Ricci
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  3. Elena Crotti
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  4. Paolo Rossi
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  5. Aurora Rizzi
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  6. Patrizia Scuppa
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  7. Aida Capone
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  8. Ulisse Ulissi
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  9. Sara Epis
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  10. Marco Genchi
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  11. N’Fale Sagnon
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  12. Ingrid Faye
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  13. Angray Kang
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  14. Bessem Chouaia
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  15. Cheryl Whitehorn
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  16. Guelbeogo W. Moussa
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  17. Mauro Mandrioli
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  18. Fulvio Esposito
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  19. Luciano Sacchi
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  20. Claudio Bandi
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  21. Daniele Daffonchio
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  22. Guido Favia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guido Favia.

Additional information

Claudia Damiani, Irene Ricci and Elena Crotti have equally contributed to this work.

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Damiani, C., Ricci, I., Crotti, E. et al. Mosquito-Bacteria Symbiosis: The Case of Anopheles gambiae and Asaia . Microb Ecol 60, 644–654 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9704-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9704-8

Keywords

  • Malaria
  • Salivary Gland
  • Reproductive Organ
  • Adult Mosquito
  • Colonization Experiment