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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2008, p. 7036-7042, Vol. 74, No. 22
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01234-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Persistent Association of Mycobacterium ulcerans with West African Predaceous Insects of the Family Belostomatidae{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Lydia Mosi,1 Heather Williamson,1 John R. Wallace,2 Richard W. Merritt,3 and P. L. C. Small1*

Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996,1 Department of Biology, Millersville University, Millersville, Pennsylvania 17551,2 Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-11153

Received 3 June 2008/ Accepted 22 September 2008

A number of studies have suggested that Mycobacterium ulcerans, the etiological agent of Buruli ulcer, may be transmitted to humans by insect bites. M. ulcerans has been isolated from a predaceous aquatic insect, and PCR detection of M. ulcerans DNA in aquatic environments suggests that the organism is widely distributed within many invertebrate taxa and functional feeding groups. Thus, M. ulcerans may be concentrated through different trophic links. However, the specific environmental niche of M. ulcerans and route of transmission to humans remain a mystery. In this study, a biologically relevant infection model in which M. ulcerans-infected mosquito larvae were fed to a species of predaceous hemiptera (African Belostomatidae) was used to demonstrate the persistent colonization of M. ulcerans and subsequent transmission of bacteria to naïve prey. The association of M. ulcerans with specific anatomical compartments showed that M. ulcerans accumulates preferentially on the exoskeleton. In contrast, few organisms were found in dissected guts or salivary glands. No difference was found between the ability of wild-type M. ulcerans and an M. ulcerans isogenic mycolactone-negative mutant to colonize belostomatids. These data show that African belostomatids can successfully be colonized by M. ulcerans and support the trophic transfer of M. ulcerans within the environment.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, 409 Walters Life Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-0845. Phone: (865) 974-4042. Fax: (865) 974-4007. E-mail: psmall{at}utk.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 3 October 2008.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2008, p. 7036-7042, Vol. 74, No. 22
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01234-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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