EXPLORATION FOR FACULTATIVE ENDOSYMBIONTS OF SHARPSHOOTERS

• Author(s): Purcell, Alexander; Brodie, Eoin; Carlton, Chris; Curley, Clytia; Mizell, Russell; Roderick, George;
• Abstract: Glassy-winged sharpshooters (GWSS) were collected in California and several states in the southeastern US in 2002 and 2003 to search for pathogenic or beneficial bacteria of GWSS. Various tissues were examined for the presence of bacteria by PCR: hemolymph, eggs, and bacteriomes. Hemolymph could contain primary and secondary symbionts, either resident in hemolymph or in transit to other tissues. Eggs were expected to contain any transovarially transmitted microorganisms, described or otherwise, and bacteriomes were expected to contain at least the primary symbionts. A small subset of hemolymph and egg samples were cloned and sequenced based on unique digest patterns of their extracted 16s DNA. Cloned sequences were identified as belonging to the primary symbiont Baumannia (in eggs and hemolymph) and Acinetobacter and Stenotrophomonas (in hemolymph). Wolbachia was also cloned from hemolymph, and subsequently found in 62% (24/39) of egg, 8% (5/66) of hemolymph, and 76% (31/41) of bacteriome samples by PCR.
• Publication Date: Aug 2003
• Journal: 2003 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium