Abstract
BackgroundSusceptibility of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) to trypanosomes of both humans and animals has been associated with the presence of the endosymbiont Sodalis glossinidius. However, intrinsic biological characteristics of the flies and environmental factors can influence the presence of both S. glossinidius and the parasites. It thus remains unclear whether it is the S. glossinidius or other attributes of the flies that explains the apparent association. The objective of this study was to test whether the presence of Trypanosoma vivax, T. congolense and T. brucei are related to the presence of S. glossinidius in tsetse flies when other factors are accounted for: geographic location, species of Glossina, sex or age of the host flies.ResultsFlies (n = 1090) were trapped from four sites in the Shimba Hills and Nguruman regions in Kenya. Sex and species of tsetse (G. austeni, G. brevipalpis, G. longipennis and G. pallidipes) were determined based on external morphological characters and age was estimated by a wing fray score method. The presence of trypanosomes and S. glossinidius was detected using PCR targeting the internal transcribed spacer region 1 and the haemolysin gene, respectively. Sequencing was used to confirm species identification. Generalised Linear Models (GLMs) and Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) were applied to investigate multivariable associations. The overall prevalence of trypanosomes was 42.1%, but GLMs revealed complex patterns of associations: the presence of S. glossinidius was associated with trypanosome presence but only in interactions with other factors and only in some species of trypanosomes. The strongest association was found for T. congolense, and no association was found for T. vivax. The MCA also suggested only a weak association between the presence of trypanosomes and S. glossinidius. Trypanosome-positive status showed strong associations with sex and age while S. glossinidius-positive status showed a strong association with geographic location and species of fly.ConclusionsWe suggest that previous conclusions about the presence of endosymbionts increasing probability of trypanosome presence in tsetse flies may have been confounded by other factors, such as community composition of the tsetse flies and the specific trypanosomes found in different regions.
Highlights
Susceptibility of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) to trypanosomes of both humans and animals has been associated with the presence of the endosymbiont Sodalis glossinidius
Distribution of trypanosomes and S. glossinidius in tsetse flies Overall, out of 1090 ‘head plus proboscis’ (HP) samples, 42.1% tested positive for trypanosomes based on the general Internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) primers; 33.2% showed amplification of only a single positive band and 8.9% showed evidence for multiple infections
For GPO1, three haplotypes were identified among the 20 sequences obtained but all showed at least 98% similarity to the pSG2 plasmid from S. glossinidius (AP008234.1)
Summary
Susceptibility of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) to trypanosomes of both humans and animals has been associated with the presence of the endosymbiont Sodalis glossinidius. Intrinsic biological characteristics of the flies and environmental factors can influence the presence of both S. glossinidius and the parasites. It remains unclear whether it is the S. glossinidius or other attributes of the flies that explains the apparent association. In sub-Saharan Africa, Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is caused primarily by three species of trypanosomes that are transmitted by tsetse fly vectors: Trypanosoma vivax, T. congolense and T. brucei. There are only a limited number of methods to control the disease in the vertebrate hosts. One possibility that has been suggested is exploiting natural endosymbionts predicted to reduce the establishment of trypanosomes in tsetse [8]
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