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Transgenesis and the Management of Vector-Borne Disease pp 49–59Cite as

Bacteria of the Genus Asaia: A Potential Paratransgenic Weapon Against Malaria

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Part of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology book series (AEMB,volume 627)

Abstract

Symbiotic bacteria have been proposed as tools for control of insect-borne diseases. Primary requirements for such symbionts are dominance, prevalence and stability within the insect body. Most of the bacterial symbionts described to date in Anopheles mosquitoes, the vector of malaria in humans, have lacked these features. We describe an a-Proteobacterium of the genus Asaia, which stably associates with several Anopheles species and dominates within the body of An. Stephensi. Asaia exhibits all the required ecological characteristics making it the best candidate, available to date, for the development of a paratransgenic approach for manipulation of mosquito vector competence. Key features of Asaia are: (i) dominance within the mosquito-associated microflora, as shown by clone prevalence in 16S rRNA gene libraries and quantitative real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR); (ii) cultivability in cell-free media; (iii) ease of transformation with foreign DNA and iv) wide distribution in the larvae and adult mosquito body, as revealed by transmission electron microscopy, and in situ-hybridization experiments. Using a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged Asaia strain, it has been possible to show that it effectively colonizes all mosquito body organs necessary for malaria parasite development and transmission, including female gut and salivary glands. Asaia was also found to massively colonize the larval gut and the male reproductive system of adult mosquitoes. Moreover, mating experiments showed an additional key feature necessary for symbiotic control, the high transmission potential of the symbiont to progeny by multiple mechanisms. Asaia is capable of horizontal infection through an oral route during feeding both in preadult and adult stages and through a venereal pattern during mating in adults. Furthermore, Asaia is vertically transmitted from mother to progeny indicating that it could quickly spread in natural mosquito populations.

Keywords

  • Salivary Gland
  • Genetically Modify
  • Acetic Acid Bacterium
  • Cytoplasmic Incompatibility
  • Insect Body

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-78225-6_4
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guido Favia-Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Camerino, 62032, Camerino, Italy

    Irene Ricci

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Alimentari e Microbiologiche, Università degli Studi di Milan, Milan, Italy

    Massimo Marzorati & Daniele Daffonchio

  3. Dipartimento di Valorizzazione e Protezione delle Risorse, Agroforestali Università degli Studi di Torino, Grugliasco, Italy

    Ilaria Negri & Alberto Alma

  4. Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Luciano Sacchi

  5. Dipartimento di Patologia Animale, Igiene e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaril, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Guido Favia & Claudio Bandi

Authors
  1. Guido Favia
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  2. Irene Ricci
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  3. Massimo Marzorati
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  4. Ilaria Negri
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  5. Alberto Alma
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  6. Luciano Sacchi
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  7. Claudio Bandi
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  8. Daniele Daffonchio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guido Favia .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor and Head, Division of Epidemiology and Microbial Diseases, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Serap Aksoy

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© 2008 Landes Bioscience and Springer Science+Business Media

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Favia, G. et al. (2008). Bacteria of the Genus Asaia: A Potential Paratransgenic Weapon Against Malaria. In: Aksoy, S. (eds) Transgenesis and the Management of Vector-Borne Disease. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 627. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-78225-6_4

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