Wigglesworthia glossinidia is a newly studied bacteria that may allow scientists to benefit many people. Wigglesworthia glossinidia was discovered in 1995 by British entomologist Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth. The genome of Wigglesworthia glossinidia was sequenced in 2002 by Leyla Akman and Serap Aksoy.
Some characteristics of W. glossinidia include being gram-negative, rod-shaped, and nonmotile. Even though it appears to be nonmotile, genes that synthesize for flagella have been discovered in its genome. These genes may be related to the cycle the bacteria utilizes to continue transmittance from adult tsetse flies to larvae. W. glossinidia reproduces by division and its life cycle is thought to be similar to other types of bacteria. Little is known about its metabolic processes because successful cultivation in the laboratory has not yet been performed. W. glossinidia is also an obligate organism which means that it cannot survive outside of a host organism.
The host organism that harbors W. glossinidia is the tsetse fly. W. glossinidia demonstrates a symbiotic relationship with the tsetse fly by living in its gut. W. glossinidia is found in the mycetocytes of the tsetse fly. Mycetocytes, also known as bacteriocytes, are specialized cells within some insects that accommodate endosymbiotic bacteria.
It is thought that the W. glossinidia genome was incorporated into the tsetse fly about 50 to 80 million years ago. The bacteria have been transmitted generation to generation from mother to larva by the mother's milk gland secretions. The W. glossinidia genome is very small and it has the ability is shrink. Over time and with evolution, W. glossinidia has been able to eliminate from its genome genes that were already present in the tsetse fly.
The symbiotic relationship between W. glossinidia and the tsetse fly is important due to the tsetse's fly role in the deadly disease, African sleeping sickness. The tsetse fly transmits Trypanosoma brucei, a parasite that causes African sleeping sickness. African sleeping sickness infects approximately 300,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa each year. It is fatal if left untreated, but the drugs used to treat the infection are toxic and not very successful. Out of the 30 known species of subspecies of the tsetse fly that belong to the genus Glossina, only nine cause the African sleeping sickness.
The tsetse fly relies on W. glossinidia to supply it with essential vitamins it cannot obtain on its own. The bacterial genome has more than 60 genes responsible for the synthesis of vitamins. These vitamins provide nutrition and are vital for the fly's fertility. Without W. glossinidia present, the tsetse fly is sterile. This information could be useful to scientists to halt the spread of African sleeping sickness. If W. glossinidia is removed from the gut of tsetse flies, their reproduction cycle would be stopped. This would decrease the fly populations and the chances of spreading disease. Scientists are currently performing research in hopes of one day putting this information to use. A study conducted by Dale and Welburn in 2001 showed that some antibiotics such as ampicillin and tetracycline kill W. glossinidia and stop its growth and reproduction in its host, the tsetse fly. This knowledge could benefit thousands of people by stopping the spread of African sleeping sickness.
Since W. glossinidia has not been cultivated in the laboratory, little is known or understood about its metabolic processes or life cycle. However, the relationship between W. glossinidia and the tsetse fly has been intensely studied. Scientists have discovered that W. glossinidia contributes to the tsetse's fly nutrition and fertility. In the future, scientists may be able to use this information to stop the spread
References
Dalke, Kate. "Wigglesworthia wiggles into the world of sequenced genomes." Genome News Network. 13 Sept. 2002. 20 Mar. 2006.
<http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/09_02/wiggles.shtml>."Endosymbiont." English Wikipedia. 24 Apr. 2004. 20 Mar. 2006.
<http://fixedreference.org/en/20040424/wikipedia/Endosymbiont>."Tsetse flies: Vectors of sleeping sickness." 20 Mar. 2006.
<http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/en/vector178to192.pdf#search='G.%20morsitans'>."Wigglesworthia." Kenyon College: The Microbial Biorealm. 11 Jan. 2006. 20 Mar. 2006.
<http://biology.kenyon.edu/Microbial_Biorealm/bacteria/Wigglesworthia/wigglesworthia.html#refs>."Wigglesworthia glossinidia." Aksoy Laboratory EPH, Yale School of Medicine: 2001.20 Mar. 2006.
<http://publichealth.yale.edu/faculty/labs/aksoy/wigglesworthia.html>.Wren, Brendan W. "Deciphering tsetse's secret partner." Nature Genetics. 2002. 20 Mar.2006.
<http://www.nature.com/cgi- taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/ng/journal/v32/n3/full/ng1102-335.html>.*Disclaimer - This report was written by a student participaring in a microbiology course at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The accuracy of the contents of this report is not guaranteed and it is recommended that you seek additional sources of information to verify the contents.
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