Prevalence of Spiroplasma and interaction with wild Glossina tachinoides microbiota Author Moyaba, Percy Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO / IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, 1400 Vienna, Austria & Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research (ARC-OVR), Author Ouedraogo, Gisele Ms Insectarium de Bobo Dioulasso - Campagne d’Eradication de la mouche tsetse et de la Trypanosomose (IBD-CETT), Author Pagabeleguem, Soumaïla Insectarium de Bobo Dioulasso - Campagne d’Eradication de la mouche tsetse et de la Trypanosomose (IBD-CETT), & University of Dedougou, B. P. 176, Dédougou 01, Burkina Faso Author Njokou, Flobert Laboratory of Parasitology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Po. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon Author Freitas, Ngambia Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), Po. Box 13591, Yaoundé, Cameroon & Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO / IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, 1400 Vienna, Austria Author Vreysen, Marc Jb Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO / IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, 1400 Vienna, Austria Author Abd-Alla, Adly Mm Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO / IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, 1400 Vienna, Austria text Parasite 2023 Paris, France 2023-12-19 30 62 1 14 http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2023064 journal article 10.1051/parasite/2023064 1776-1042 PMC10732139 38117272 12628828 Prevalence of Spiroplasma The presence of Spiroplasma in wild populations of tsetse flies was assessed using a PCR-based method to amplify part of the 16S rRNA gene. Positive samples were identified based on the observed amplicon band size in the electrophoresis gel for all tsetse species. Sequencing of the respective PCR amplicons revealed that Spiroplasma infection was only confirmed in G. tachinoides ( N = 41) and G. f. fuscipes ( N = 6), both belonging to the palpalis subgenus ( Table 1 ). In the case of G. brevipalpis , G. m. morsitans , G. m. submorsitans, G. pallidipes , G. p. gambiensis , and G. p. palpalis , the amplified sequence belonged to different microbial species, primarily Bacillus cereus , Bacillus thuringiensis , Enterococcus cecorum , and some uncultured bacteria (Data not shown). The PCR results indicated an overall Spiroplasma prevalence of 39.27% in G. tachinoides . The prevalence did not differ significantly between Burkina Faso , Ghana , and the laboratory colony ( Χ 2 = 2.12, df = 2, and p = 0.34), with Burkina Faso and Ghana showing a prevalence rate of 46.56% and 52.94%, respectively ( Table 2 ). However, a significant variation in Spiroplasma prevalence was found across the various sampling locations ( Χ 2 = 22.61, df = 8, and p = 0.003) ( Table 2 and Figs. 2 and 3 ). Specifically, there was a significant difference in prevalence between the two sampling locations in Burkina Faso ( Χ 2 = 6.459, df = 1, and p = 0.01), with a higher prevalence observed in Folonzo. Similarly, a significant difference was found between the prevalence rate in different locations in Ghana ( Χ 2 = 11.955, df = 5, and p = 0.03), with the highest prevalence observed in the Mortani region (98.44%), where 100% of the female flies were infected. Conversely, the lowest prevalence of Spiroplasma was recorded in Kumpole, Ghana (25%), with male flies showing no sign of infection ( Table 2 , Figs. 2 and 3 ).