Stable associations between insects and bacterial species are widespread in nature. This is the case for many economically important insects, such as tsetse flies. Tsetse flies are the vectors of Trypanosoma brucei, the etiological agent of African trypanosomiasis—a zoonotic disease that incurs a high socioeconomic cost in regions of endemicity. Populations of tsetse flies are often infected with the bacterium Sodalis glossinidius. Following infection, S. glossinidius establishes a chronic, stable association characterized by vertical (maternal) and horizontal (paternal) modes of transmission. Due to the stable nature of this association, S. glossinidius has been long sought as a means for the implementation of anti-Trypanosoma paratransgenesis in tsetse flies. However, the lack of tools for the genetic modification of S. glossinidius has hindered progress in this area. Here, we establish that S. glossinidius is amenable to DNA uptake by conjugation. We show that conjugation can be used as a DNA delivery method to conduct forward and reverse genetic experiments in this bacterium. This study serves as an important step in the development of genetic tools for S. glossinidius. The methods highlighted here should guide the implementation of genetics for the study of the tsetse-Sodalis association and the evaluation of S. glossinidius-based tsetse fly paratransgenesis strategies.

中文翻译：

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舌蝇的母系遗传共生体 Sodalis glossinidius 中的接合 DNA 转移

昆虫和细菌物种之间的稳定联系在自然界中很普遍。许多经济上重要的昆虫都是这种情况，例如采采蝇。采采蝇是布氏锥虫的媒介，布氏锥虫是非洲锥虫病的病原体——一种在流行地区造成高社会经济成本的人畜共患疾病。采采蝇种群经常感染Sodalis glossinidius细菌。感染后，S.glossinidius建立了一种慢性、稳定的关联，其特征是垂直（母系）和水平（父系）传播模式。由于这种关联的稳定性质，长期以来，S. glsinidius一直被寻求作为实施反采采蝇中的锥虫副转基因。然而，由于缺乏对S.glossinidius进行基因改造的工具，这阻碍了该领域的进展。在这里，我们确定S.glossinidius适合通过结合进行 DNA 摄取。我们表明接合可用作 DNA 传递方法，在该细菌中进行正向和反向遗传实验。这项研究是开发S.glossinidius遗传工具的重要一步。该方法强调了在这里应该引导遗传学的实施为tsetse-的研究Sodalis协会和评价S. glossinidius-根据舌蝇paratransgenesis策略。