Abstract
While symbiosis between bacteria and insects has been thoroughly investigated in the last two decades, investments on the study of yeasts associated with insects have been limited. Insect-associated yeasts are placed on different branches of the phylogenetic tree of fungi, indicating that these associations evolved independently on several occasions. Isolation of yeasts is frequently reported from insect habitats, and in some cases yeasts have been detected in the insect gut and in other organs/tissues. Here we show that the yeast Wickerhamomyces anomalus, previously known as Pichia anomala, is stably associated with the mosquito Anopheles stephensi, a main vector of malaria in Asia. Wickerhamomyces anomalus colonized pre-adult stages (larvae L(1)-L(4) and pupae) and adults of different sex and age and could be isolated in pure culture. By a combination of transmission electron microscopy and fluorescent in situ hybridization techniques, W. anomalus was shown to localize in the midgut and in both the male and female reproductive systems, suggesting multiple transmission patterns.
Highlights
Studies on the microbiome associated with haematophagus insects have mainly focused on the bacterial component rather than the eukaryotic one
By a combination of transmission electron microscopy and fluorescent in situ hybridization techniques, W. anomalus was shown to localize in the midgut and in both the male and female reproductive systems, suggesting multiple transmission patterns
We report here the characterization of the yeasts associated with the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi (Diptera: Culicidae), identifying Wickerhamomyces anomalus (Saccharomycetales) as an important component of the yeast microbiome in this mosquito species
Summary
Studies on the microbiome associated with haematophagus insects have mainly focused on the bacterial component rather than the eukaryotic one. Only a few reports have been published on the yeast microbiota associated with mosquitoes. The relationship between symbionts and mosquitoes has attracted a great deal of attention, for the perspective of exploiting the symbionts for blocking the transmission of parasites, for example, through the production of antagonistic factors (Favia et al, 2008; Moreira et al, 2009). ‘Paratransgenesis’ is defined as the genetic manipulation of midgut symbionts to express antiparasite effector molecules that could exert a direct action on the parasite (Riehle and Jacobs-Lorena, 2005). Yeast symbionts would offer an attractive alternative to bacteria for their potential to express antiparasite factors with folding properties suited to eukaryotic targets like the plasmodia
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