Obligate symbionts activate immune system development in the tsetse fly.

ABSTRACT: Many insects rely on the presence of symbiotic bacteria for proper immune system function. However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon are poorly understood. Adult tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) house three symbiotic bacteria that are vertically transmitted from mother to offspring during this insect's unique viviparous mode of reproduction. Larval tsetse that undergo intrauterine development in the absence of their obligate mutualist, Wigglesworthia, exhibit a compromised immune system during adulthood. In this study, we characterize the immune phenotype of tsetse that develop in the absence of all of their endogenous symbiotic microbes. Aposymbiotic tsetse (Glossina morsitans morsitans [Gmm(Apo)]) present a severely compromised immune system that is characterized by the

SUBMITTER: Weiss BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3311772 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature