ArticleBMC microbiology2018
Effect of antibiotic treatment and gamma-irradiation on cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and mate choice in tsetse flies (Glossina m. morsitans).
Article in BMC microbiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Microbiome-mediated chemical communication in insects: Implications for pest management.Pest management science · 2026Review
- Friends or foes: Unraveling the tsetse fly-Spiroplasma symbiosis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Review
- Cuticular Hydrocarbons-Revealed Functional Groups and Seasonal Acclimation in Sympatric Fig Wasp Mating Assemblages.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Leaffooted bugs enrich local soil with their horizontally acquired symbiont.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Direct and transgenerational effects of tetracyclines on the microbiome, transcriptome, and male mating behavior of the sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- The Significance of Genetic Relatedness and Nest Sharing on the Worker-Worker Similarity of Gut Bacterial Microbiome and Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profile in a Sweat Bee.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Tetracycline has no long-term effects on gut physiology and microbiome of the new world screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, which has positive implications for transgenic male-only rearing systems.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- Rearing of Glossina morsitans morsitans tsetse flies for the sterile insect technique: evaluating the impact of irradiation and transportation during early and late-stage pupal development on the quality of emerging adults.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2024Article
- Impact of the microbiome on mosquito-borne diseases.Protein & cell · 2023Review
- Microbiota in disease-transmitting vectors.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2023Review
- A volatile sex attractant of tsetse flies.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Symbiosis preservation: Putative regulation of fatty acyl-CoA reductase by miR-31a within the symbiont harboring bacteriome through tsetse evolution.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Aphids harbouring different endosymbionts exhibit differences in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles that can be recognized by ant mutualists.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- The microbiome and mosquito vectorial capacity: rich potential for discovery and translation.Microbiome · 2021Review
- Review
- Nuclear and Wolbachia-based multimarker approach for the rapid and accurate identification of tsetse species.BMC microbiology · 2018Article
- Enhancing vector refractoriness to trypanosome infection: achievements, challenges and perspectives.BMC microbiology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSymbiotic microbes represent a driving force of evolutionary innovation by conferring novel ecological traits to their hosts. Many insects are associated with microbial symbionts that contribute to their host's nutrition, digestion, detoxification, reproduction, immune homeostasis, and defense. In addition, recent studies suggest a microbial involvement in chemical communication and mating behavior, which can ultimately impact reproductive isolation and, hence, speciation. Here we investigated whether a disruption of the microbiota through antibiotic treatment or irradiation affects cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, and possibly mate choice behavior in the tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans morsitans. Four independent experiments that differentially knock down the multiple bacterial symbionts of tsetse flies were conducted by subjecting tsetse flies to ampicillin, tetracycline, or gamma-irradiation and analyzing their cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in comparison to untreated controls by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry. In two of the antibiotic experiments, flies were mass-reared, while individual rearing was done for the third experiment to avoid possible chemical cross-contamination between individual flies.
resultsAll three antibiotic experiments yielded significant effects of antibiotic treatment (particularly tetracycline) on cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in both female and male G. m. morsitans, while irradiation itself had no effect on the CHC profiles. Importantly, tetracycline treatment reduced relative amounts of 15,19,23-trimethyl-heptatriacontane, a known compound of the female contact sex pheromone, in two of the three experiments, suggesting a possible implication of microbiota disturbance on mate choice decisions. Concordantly, both female and male flies preferred non-treated over tetracycline-treated flies in direct choice assays.
conclusionsWhile we cannot exclude the possibility that antibiotic treatment had a directly detrimental effect on fly vigor as we are unable to recolonize antibiotic treated flies with individual symbiont taxa, our results are consistent with an effect of the microbiota, particularly the obligate nutritional endosymbiont Wigglesworthia, on CHC profiles and mate choice behavior. These findings highlight the importance of considering host-microbiota interactions when studying chemical communication and mate choice in insects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.