Tsetse fly (Diptera: Glossinidae) is the sole vector of pathogenic African trypanosomes, agents of human sleeping sickness and animal nagana in tropical Africa. Besides trypanosomes, tsetse also harbor three symbionts: Wigglesworthia, Sodalis and Wolbachia. In the absence of effective disease control methods, eliminating the link between the mammalian host and the fly appears to be an effective strategy to break the disease cycle. Our research focuses on the application of symbiont-based transformation technology to express products in tsetse that render the midgut environment inhospitable for trypanosome transmission. We are interested in Sodalis, a symbiont that resides in close proximity to trypanosomes in the midgut. Previously, we have shown that the antimicrobial peptide, attacin, has antitrypanosomal activity while Sodalis was shown to be resistant. Here we describe the transformation of Sodalis with pGmAttAGFP, containing the mature attacin cDNA from Glossina morsitans morsitans. Western analysis was used to confirm the peptide expression in the transformed Sodalis. Both cells and supernatants of the transformed Sodalis exhibit bactericidal and antitrypanosomal activities against E. coli and T. brucei rhodesiense, respectively. Recombinant Sodalis was reintroduced into tsetse through intrathoracic injections of pregnant females and their larvae subsequently collected. These larvae were allowed to develop to adults and were challenged with trypanosomes. The parasite infection prevalence in these flies is significantly lower than wild type counterparts. The potential application of such a strategy for trypanosomiasis reduction in the field is discussed.
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