Abstract
During the last 30 years, investigations on the microbiome of different tsetse species have generated substantial data on the bacterial flora of these cyclical vectors of African trypanosomes, with the overarching goal of improving the control of trypanosomiases. It is in this context that the presence of Wolbachia and Sodalis glossinidius was studied in wild populations of Glossina fuscipes quanzensis from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tsetse flies were captured with pyramidal traps. Of the 700 Glossina f. quanzensis captured, 360 were dissected and their midguts collected and analyzed. Sodalis glossinidius and Wolbachia were identified by PCR. The Wolbachia-positive samples were genetically characterized with five molecular markers. PCR revealed 84.78% and 15.55% midguts infected by Wolbachia and S. glossinidius, respectively. The infection rates varied according to capture sites. Of the five molecular markers used to characterize Wolbachia, only the fructose bis-phosphate aldolase gene was amplified for about 60% of midguts previously found with Wolbachia infections. The sequencing results confirmed the presence of Wolbachia and revealed the presence of S. glossinidius in the midgut of Glossina f. quanzensis. A low level of midguts were naturally co-infected by both bacteria. The data generated in this study open a framework for investigations aimed at understanding the contribution of these symbiotic microorganisms to the vectorial competence of Glossina fuscipes quanzensis.
Highlights
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), known as sleeping sickness, is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Trypanosoma
The trypanosomes responsible for HAT belong to the Trypanosoma brucei species complex which is classically subdivided into three subspecies: Trypanosoma brucei (T. b.) gambiense, responsible for the chronic form of HAT in West and Central Africa, T. b. rhodesiense, responsible for the acute form in East and Southern Africa, and T. b. brucei which is pathogenic in animals but not in humans [28]
102 pyramidal traps were set up in different villages and a total of 700 tsetse flies, including 155 teneral (22.1%) and 545 non-teneral flies (77.9%), all belonging to G. f. quanzensis were collected (Table 1)
Summary
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), known as sleeping sickness, is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Trypanosoma. Efforts undertaken to control HAT during the last few decades brought the disease under control and led to its inclusion in the WHO “roadmap for eradication, elimination and control of neglected tropical diseases”, with a target set to eliminate HAT as a public health problem by 2020 [49] To achieve this goal, sustainable control and surveillance measures must be developed to ensure complete interruption of disease transmission. Elimination has been achieved on Unguja Island in Zanzibar [44]; islands often have the advantage of limited tsetse species and more importantly a lower chance of reinvasion This seems unrealistic within mainland Africa where environmental and ecological conditions change considerably between biotopes and where several tsetse species coexist in the same biotope. Factors such as the tsetse species, the genetic variability within a given species, and the presence of symbiotic microorganisms seem to regulate vectorial competence of tsetse
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