Bacteria associated to Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae): characterization and effect on sterile males sexual competitiveness

SEGURA, DIEGO; CONTE, CLAUDIA; JUÁREZ, M. LAURA; PIMPER, LIDA E.; SALGUEIRO, JULIETA; CLADERA, JORGE L; VERA, M. TERESA; BOURTZIS, KOSTAS; TSIAMIS, GEORGE; LANZAVECCHIA, SILVIA B.

Workshop; FINAL RESEARCH COORDINATION MEETING On ?Use of Symbiotic Bacteria to Reduce Mass-rearing Costs and Increase Mating Success in Selected Fruit Pests in Support of SIT Application?; 2017

The association between bacteria and Tephritidae fruit flies has been known for more than a hundred years. However, the complexity of such associations and the availability of appropriate methods to characterize bacterial diversity caused several decades of slowdown. Molecular tools have significantly improved our ability to unravel such complex interactions which provoked a burst in the scientific literature over the last 10 years. A wide range of taxonomic groups of bacteria have been identified in association with Tephritidae fruit flies. These include bacteria living in rather lax association with their hosts as well as species located in specific structures or even endosymbiont bacteria, located inside the hosts? cells. Likewise, a whole range of effects have been described, from pathogenic to beneficial, including modifications on behavioral, physiological and nutritional parameters. In this presentation we will summarize our most significant advances in the characterization of bacteria associated to Anastrepha fraterculus. The focus will be placed on gut bacterial community and the endosymbiont bacterium Wolbachia pipientis. In the first case, we will present results on: 1) the effect of antibiotic treatment on gut bacteria diversity and the fitness of the fly; 2) the characterization of isolate from wild and laboratory flies and their potential use as probiotics; 3) the effect of colonization of a wild population on the gut bacteria diversity. In the case of Wolbachia, we will summarize the results of our research aimed at describing the strains present in A. fraterculus sp. 1 from Argentina and the potential phenotypes these bacteria induce of their host.