Colonization of marker strains of bacteria in fruit fly, Bactrocera tau

Symbiotic association among Tephritidae has been known since the beginning of century. These symbiotes have some useful functions in fruit flies viz., hydrolization of proteins and degradation of toxic substances. In the present studies antibiotic resistant strains of Pseudomonas putida (fruit fly symbiote), Bacillus subtilis (fruit fly pathogen) and Escherichia coli (non associated strain) were fed to Bactrocera tau, fruit flies to study their establishment and growth in fruit flies. All the three strains could colonize fruit flies, however maximum population was of P. putida, followed by B. subtilis and E. coli. It was concluded that it is possible to establish strains of P. putida modified with toxin genes to suppress fruit fly population in the field.