Bacterial virulence factors facilitate host colonization and set the stage for the evolution of parasitic and mutualistic interactions. The Sodalis- allied clade of bacteria exhibit striking diversity in the range of both plant and animal feeding insects they inhabit, suggesting the appropriation of universal molecular mechanisms that facilitate establishment. Here, we report on the infection of the tsetse fly by free-living Sodalis praecaptivus , a close relative of many Sodalis- allied symbionts. Key genes involved in quorum sensing, including the homoserine lactone synthase ( ypeI ) and response regulators ( yenR and ypeR ) are integral for the benign colonization of S . praecaptivus . Mutants lacking ypeI , yenR and ypeR compromised tsetse survival as a consequence of their inability to repress virulence. Genes under quorum sensing, including homologs of the binary insecticidal toxin PirAB and a putative symbiosis-promoting factor CpmAJ, demonstrated negative and positive impacts, respectively, on tsetse survival. Taken together with results obtained from experiments involving weevils, this work shows that quorum sensing virulence suppression plays an integral role in facilitating the establishment of Sodalis -allied symbionts in diverse insect hosts. This knowledge contributes to the understanding of the early evolutionary steps involved in the formation of insect-bacterial symbiosis. Further, despite having no established history of interaction with tsetse, S . praecaptivus can infect reproductive tissues, enabling vertical transmission through adenotrophic viviparity within a single host generation. This creates an option for the use of S . praecaptivus in the biocontrol of insect disease vectors via paratransgenesis. Author summary Symbiosis drives organismal novelty. Yet, we know little about the origin, establishment and persistence of symbiosis between animals and bacteria. Sodalis -allied symbionts have established independent infections in many insects. Here we show that quorum sensing facilitates the establishment of a novel Sodalis praecaptivus infection in tsetse flies, in a fashion very similar to that observed in weevils. Importantly, quorum sensing modulation of virulence allows Sodalis to establish in these hosts with minimal pathology and may explain the propensity for these symbionts to adopt associations with a wide range of hosts. Furthermore, S . praecaptivus infects reproductive tissues, enabling vertical transmission within a single host generation, potentially facilitating the use of S . praecaptivus in the control of insect disease vectors via paratransgenesis.
【초록키워드】 Evolution, pathology, knowledge, Infection, Transmission, molecular mechanism, survival, animals, persistence, vector, clade, vertical transmission, mutants, Bacteria, experiment, Insects, virulence factors, virulence, disease, interactions, association, Interaction, tsetse flies, tsetse fly, the stage, Factor, modulation, tissues, Stage, option, hosts, symbiosis, homologs, quorum, fashion, tsetse, insect, homolog, symbiont, infect, Host, impacts, independent, involved, facilitate, contribute, demonstrated, explain, reproductive, repress, insecticidal, negative and positive, viviparity, 【제목키워드】 Transmission, vertical transmission,