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Infection and Immunity, February 2005, p. 1180-1186, Vol. 73, No. 2
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.2.1180-1186.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Long-Term Survival and Intracellular Replication of Mycoplasma hominis in Trichomonas vaginalis Cells: Potential Role of the Protozoon in Transmitting Bacterial Infection

Daniele Dessì,1 Giuseppe Delogu,1 Eleonora Emonte,1 Maria Rosaria Catania,2 Pier Luigi Fiori,1* and Paola Rappelli1

Department of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Experimental and Clinical Microbiology, University of Sassari, Sassari,1 Department of Experimental Medicine, II University of Naples, Naples, Italy2

Received 31 May 2004/ Accepted 8 October 2004

The existence of a symbiotic relationship between Trichomonas vaginalis and Mycoplasma hominis, which is the first reported example of symbiosis between two obligate human pathogens, has been recently reported by our research group. In this work, we examined the cellular location of M. hominis in respect to T. vaginalis. By using gentamicin protection assays, double immunofluorescence, and confocal microscopy, we obtained strong evidence that M. hominis is located within protozoan cells. 5-Bromodeoxyuridine incorporation assays showed that intracellularly located mycoplasmas actively synthesize DNA. Our results demonstrate that M. hominis has the capability of entering trichomonad cells and of replicating inside the protozoon. These findings suggest that symbiosis might provide the bacteria, during human infection, with the capability to resist to environmental stresses, such as host defense mechanisms and pharmacological therapies.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Experimental and Clinical Microbiology, University of Sassari, Viale S. Pietro 43/B, 07100 Sassari, Italy. Phone: 39 079 228299. Fax: 39 079 228299. E-mail: fioripl{at}uniss.it.

Editor: W. A. Petri, Jr.

Infection and Immunity, February 2005, p. 1180-1186, Vol. 73, No. 2
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.2.1180-1186.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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