Horizontal transmission of the symbiotic bacterium Asaia sp. in the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus Ball (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

Bacteria of the genus Asaia have been recently recognized as secondary symbionts of differentsugar-feeding insects, including the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus, vector of Flavescence dorée phytoplasmas.Asaia has been shown to be localized in S. titanus gut, salivary glands and gonoducts and to be maternallytransmitted to the progeny by an egg smearing mechanism. It is currently not known whether Asaia in S. titanus istransmitted by additional routes. We performed a study to evaluate if Asaia infection is capable of horizontaltransmission via co-feeding and venereal routes.