HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Capuzzo, C. Articles by Girolami, V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Capuzzo, C. Articles by Girolami, V. Agricola Articles by Capuzzo, C. Articles by Girolami, V.

‘Candidatus Erwinia dacicola’, a coevolved symbiotic bacterium of the olive fly Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin)

¹ Dipartimento di Agronomia Ambientale e Produzioni Vegetali, Università di Padova, Agripolis, viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy
² Dipartimento di Biologia applicata alla Difesa delle Piante, Università di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy
³ Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Agrarie, Università di Padova, Agripolis, viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy

Correspondence
Vincenzo Girolami
vincenzo.girolami{at}unipd.it

The taxonomic identity of the hereditary prokaryotic symbiont of the olive fly Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae) was investigated. In order to avoid superficial microbial contaminants and loosely associated saprophytic biota, flies were surface-sterilized at the larval stage and reared under aseptic conditions until adult emergence. B. oleae flies originating from different geographical locations and collected at different times of the year were tested. Bacterial isolation was undertaken from the cephalic oesophageal bulb, which is known to be a specific site of accumulation for the hosted microsymbionts in the adult insect. Despite evidence of multiplication cycles taking place within the insect, attempts at cultivation of the isolated bacteria ex situ were not productive at any stage, leading to the choice of unculturable status definition. PCR amplification and nucleotide sequencing of the entire 16S rRNA gene consistently yielded a single sequence that displayed marked similarity with enterobacterial lineages, with closest matches (97 %) to Erwinia persicina and Erwinia rhapontici. The novel taxon differs from common intestinal bacterial species of fruit flies and from instances of culturable bacteria previously described in B. oleae raised without sterility precautions, which we also observed as minority occupants or occasional contaminants. The symbiont's identity is also distinct from Pseudomonas savastanoi. In all observations, the numerically dominant inhabitant of the olive fly oesophageal organ was the same unculturable organism, whose presence at later stages was also regularly observed in the midgut. A novel species is proposed, by virtue of its unique properties, under the designation ‘Candidatus Erwinia dacicola’.

Published online ahead of print on 1 April 2005 as DOI 10.1099/ijs.0.63653-0.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of ‘Candidatus Erwinia dacicola’ isolate Patavina is AJ586620.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Mazzon, A. Piscedda, M. Simonato, I. Martinez-Sanudo, A. Squartini, and V. Girolami Presence of specific symbiotic bacteria in flies of the subfamily Tephritinae (Diptera Tephritidae) and their phylogenetic relationships: proposal of 'Candidatus Stammerula tephritidis' Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, June 1, 2008; 58(6): 1277 - 1287. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]