First isolation of microorganisms from the gut diverticulum of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae): new perspectives for an insect-bacteria association

Abstract

We show for the first time that the ventral diverticulum of the mosquito gut (impermeable sugar storage organ) harbors microorganisms. The gut diverticulum from newly emerged and non-fedAedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae, Aedini) is the main urban vector for the human diseases yellow fever and dengue fever (Nasci & Miller 1996). The vector control, mainly by insecticide application and elimination of oviposition sites, has been used as the best solution to decrease the diseases incidence. Explore new strategies for blocking the insect transmitted diseases such as dengue fever is urgent in Tropical countries (Sperança & Capurro 2007). Microorganisms associated with the insect may have an important role for human infectious diseases epidemiology. Once a key role bacterium is discovered, it may be modified in order to affect the pathogen development and, consequently, the disease transmission (Azambuja et al. 2005, Riehle & Jacobs-Lorena 2005.The alimentary canal of the mosquito is composed by the foregut, midgut and hindgut. The foregut is involved primarily with ingestion, conduction and storage of food (Romoser 1996). In the alimentary canal of the mosquito three diverticula arise near the posterior end of the esophagus: two from the dorso-lateral and one from the ventral wall of the gut, all surrounded by a thin impermeable cuticle. The ventral diverticulum (VD), or crop, is large and may extend into the abdomen (Dapples & Lea 1974). Usually all three diverticula are filled with air bubbles and are used as food reservoirs (Thompson 1905, Consoli & Lourenço-de-Oliveira 1994. The sugar meal, such as floral nectar, is stored in the diverticula and passes slowly to the midgut, where it is digested (Thompson 1905).Microorganisms play important and often essential roles in the growth and development of many insect species. Despite the importance of these microbial associations with insects there are relatively few studies that elucidate their components and their roles in the interactions. Insects that rely on nutritionally poor diets tend to possess bacterial endosymbionts. Aphids, for example, which subsist solely on plant sap, harbor Buchnera spp., believed to provide amino acids and vitamins to their hosts (Douglas 1989). Blood is known to be severely deficient in essential B vitamins and some amino acids. Bloodsucking arthropods such as ticks, lice, bedbugs, reduviid bugs, and tsetse flies usually harbor symbiotic microorganisms (Buchner 1965). Symbiotic relationships have already been reported for blood feeding insects and some are very well established, as in the case of Rhodnius prolixus that maintains an association with the actinomycete bacteria Rhodococcus rhodnii (Dasch et al. 1984); and tsetse flies genus Glossina, which harbor three distinct symbiotic microorganisms: Wigglesworthia glossinidia, Sodalis glossinidius (commensal), and the parasitic microbe Wolbachia pipientis (Aksoy et al. 1997, Chen et al. 1999.Many key questions about bacteria within the mosquito's midgut remain largely unanswered, and ob...

Isolation and characterization of yeasts capable of efficient utilization of hemicellulosic hydrolyzate as the carbon source

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Different mosquito species host Wickerhamomyces anomalus (Pichia anomala): perspectives on vector-borne diseases symbiotic control

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