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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2009, p. 3281-3288, Vol. 75, No. 10
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02933-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Acetobacter tropicalis Is a Major Symbiont of the Olive Fruit Fly (Bactrocera oleae){triangledown}

Ilias Kounatidis,1,{dagger} Elena Crotti,2,{dagger} Panagiotis Sapountzis,3 Luciano Sacchi,4 Aurora Rizzi,2 Bessem Chouaia,5 Claudio Bandi,5 Alberto Alma,6 Daniele Daffonchio,2 Penelope Mavragani-Tsipidou,1 and Kostas Bourtzis3*

Department of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessalonici, Greece,1 Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Alimentari e Microbiologiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy,2 Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Ioannina, 30100 Agrinion, Greece,3 Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy,4 Dipartimento di Patologia Animale, Igiene e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy,5 Dipartimento di Valorizzazione e Protezione delle Risorse Agroforestali, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10095 Turin, Italy6

Received 23 December 2008/ Accepted 17 March 2009

Following cultivation-dependent and -independent techniques, we investigated the microbiota associated with Bactrocera oleae, one of the major agricultural pests in olive-producing countries. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene libraries and ultrastructural analyses revealed the presence of several bacterial taxa associated with this insect, among which Acetobacter tropicalis was predominant. The recent increased detection of acetic acid bacteria as symbionts of other insect model organisms, such as Anopheles stephensi (G. Favia et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:9047-9051, 2007) or Drosophila melanogaster (C. R. Cox and M. S. Gilmore, Infect. Immun. 75:1565-1576, 2007), prompted us to investigate the association established between A. tropicalis and B. oleae. Using an A. tropicalis-specific PCR assay, the symbiont was detected in all insects tested originating from laboratory stocks or field-collected from different locations in Greece. This acetic acid bacterium was successfully established in cell-free medium, and typing analyses, carried out on a collection of isolates, revealed that different A. tropicalis strains are present in fly populations. The capability to colonize and lodge in the digestive system of both larvae and adults and in Malpighian tubules of adults was demonstrated by using a strain labeled with a green fluorescent protein.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Ioannina, 2 Seferi Street, 30100 Agrinio, Greece. Phone: 30 26410 74114. Fax: 30 26410 74171. E-mail: kbourtz{at}uoi.gr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 20 March 2009.

{dagger} I.K. and E.C. contributed equally to this work.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2009, p. 3281-3288, Vol. 75, No. 10
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02933-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Estes, A. M., Hearn, D. J., Bronstein, J. L., Pierson, E. A. (2009). The Olive Fly Endosymbiont, "Candidatus Erwinia dacicola," Switches from an Intracellular Existence to an Extracellular Existence during Host Insect Development. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 7097-7106 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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