Interactions between mutualist Wigglesworthia and tsetse peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP-LB) influence trypanosome transmission.

Tsetse flies, the sole vectors of African trypanosomes, have coevolved with mutualistic endosymbiont Wigglesworthia glossinidiae. Elimination of Wigglesworthia renders tsetse sterile and increases their trypanosome infection susceptibility. We show that a tsetse peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP-LB) is crucial for symbiotic tolerance and trypanosome infection processes. Tsetse pgrp-lb is expressed in the Wigglesworthia-harboring organ (bacteriome) in the midgut, and its level of expression correlates with symbiont numbers. Adult tsetse cured of Wigglesworthia infections have significantly lower pgrp-lb levels than corresponding normal adults. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated depletion of pgrp-lb results in the activation of the immune deficiency (IMD) signaling pathway and leads to the synthesis of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which decrease Wigglesworthia density. Depletion of pgrp-lb also increases the host's susceptibility to trypanosome infections. Finally, parasitized adults have significantly lower pgrp-lb levels than flies, which have successfully eliminated trypanosome infections. When both PGRP-LB and IMD immunity pathway functions are blocked, flies become unusually susceptible to parasitism. Based on the presence of conserved amidase domains, tsetse PGRP-LB may scavenge the peptidoglycan (PGN) released by Wigglesworthia and prevent the activation of symbiont-damaging host immune responses. In addition, tsetse PGRP-LB may have an anti-protozoal activity that confers parasite resistance. The symbiotic adaptations and the limited exposure of tsetse to foreign microbes may have led to the considerable differences in pgrp-lb expression and regulation noted in tsetse from that of closely related Drosophila. A dynamic interplay between Wigglesworthia and host immunity apparently is influential in tsetse's ability to transmit trypanosomes.