Wolbachia surface protein induces innate immune responses in mosquito cells

Pinto, S. B., Mariconti, M., Bazzocchi, C., Bandi, C. and Sinkins, S. P. (2012) Wolbachia surface protein induces innate immune responses in mosquito cells. BMC Microbiology, 12(Suppl), S11. (doi: 10.1186/1471-2180-12-S1-S11) (PMID:22375833) (PMCID:PMC3287508)

Abstract

Background: Wolbachiaendosymbiotic bacteria are capable of inducing chronic upregulation of insect immune genes in some situations and this phenotype may influence the transmission of important insect-borne pathogens. However the molecules involved in these interactions have not been characterized. Results: Here we show that recombinant Wolbachia Surface Protein (WSP) stimulates increased transcription of immune genes in mosquito cells derived from the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, which is naturally uninfected with Wolbachia; at least two of the upregulated genes, TEP1 and APL1, are known to be important in Plasmodium killing in this species. When cells from Aedes albopictus, which is naturally Wolbachia-infected, were challenged with WSP lower levels of upregulation were observed than for the An. gambiaecells. Conclusions: We have found that WSP is a strong immune elicitor in a naturally Wolbachia-uninfected mosquito species (Anopheles gambiae) while a milder elicitor in a naturally-infected species (Aedes albopictus). Since the WSP of a mosquito non-native (nematode) Wolbachia strain was used, these data suggest that there is a generalized tolerance to WSP in Ae. albopictus.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 079059) and by MIUR-PRIN 2009. MM received support from EU-COST Action FA0701.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sinkins, Professor Steven
• Authors: Pinto, S. B., Mariconti, M., Bazzocchi, C., Bandi, C., and Sinkins, S. P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
• Journal Name: BMC Microbiology
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• ISSN: 1471-2180
• ISSN (Online): 1471-2180
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2012 Pino et al.
• First Published: First published in BMC Microbiology 12(Suppl 1): S11
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License