Abstract
Microbial parasites of animals include bacteria, viruses, and various unicellular eukaryotes. Because of the difficulty in studying these microorganisms in both humans and disease vectors, laboratory models are commonly used for experimental analysis of host-parasite interactions. Drosophila is one such model that has made significant contributions to our knowledge of bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Despite this, less is known about other potential parasites associated with natural Drosophila populations. Here, we surveyed sixteen Drosophila populations comprising thirteen species from four continents and Hawaii and found that they are associated with an extensive diversity of trypanosomatids (Euglenozoa, Kinetoplastea). Phylogenetic analysis finds that Drosophila-associated trypanosomatids are closely related to taxa that are responsible for various types of leishmaniases and more distantly related to the taxa responsible for human African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease. We suggest that Drosophila may provide a powerful system for studying the interactions between trypanosomatids and their hosts.
Highlights
A century of basic research in Drosophila genetics, physiology, ecology, and evolution has solidified its status as a model organism for biological research
We show that Drosophila-associated trypanosomatids are closely related to other monoxenous insect trypanosomatids and follow the same patterns of host-infectivity and geographic distribution
In both the small subunit (SSU) and the large subunit (LSU) phylogenetic trees, we find strong support for the clade containing the genera Leishmania, Phytomonas, Crithidia, Herpetomonas, Endotrypanum, and the Drosophila-associated sequences (Figures 1 and 2; blue node)
Summary
A century of basic research in Drosophila genetics, physiology, ecology, and evolution has solidified its status as a model organism for biological research. Work in Drosophila informs applied research across a variety of disciplines, including drug discovery [1], the genetic basis of human diseases [2,3], and the genomics of insect resistance to pesticides [4]. Drosophila has been developed as a model for CF and it was found that other bacterial taxa isolated from CF patients can modify P. aeruginosa’s role in CF afflicted Drosophila [9]. This polymicrobial view of CF infection is being applied to human patients [10,11]. One area where it has rarely been applied is the study of animaltrypanosomatid interactions
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