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Chen S, Pham S, Terrapon N, Blom J, Walker ED. Elizabethkingia anophelis MSU001 Isolated from Anopheles stephensi: Molecular Characterization and Comparative Genome Analysis. Microorganisms 2024; 12:1079. [PMID: 38930461 PMCID: PMC11206156 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2024] [Revised: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Elizabethkingia anophelis MSU001, isolated from Anopheles stephensi in the laboratory, was characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF/MS), biochemical testing, and genome sequencing. Average nucleotide identity analysis revealed 99% identity with the type species E. anophelis R26. Phylogenetic placement showed that it formed a clade with other mosquito-associated strains and departed from a clade of clinical isolates. Comparative genome analyses further showed that it shared at least 98.6% of genes with mosquito-associated isolates (except E. anophelis As1), while it shared at most 88.8% of common genes with clinical isolates. Metabolites from MSU001 significantly inhibited growth of E. coli but not the mosquito gut symbionts Serratia marcescens and Asaia sp. W12. Insect-associated E. anophelis carried unique glycoside hydrolase (GH) and auxiliary activities (AAs) encoding genes distinct from those of clinical isolates, indicating their potential role in reshaping chitin structure and other components involved in larval development or formation of the peritrophic matrix. Like other Elizabethkingia, MSU001 also carried abundant genes encoding two-component system proteins (51), transcription factor proteins (188), and DNA-binding proteins (13). E. anophelis MSU001 contains a repertoire of antibiotic resistance genes and several virulence factors. Its potential for opportunistic infections in humans should be further evaluated prior to implementation as a paratransgenesis agent (by transgenesis of a symbiont of the vector).
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Affiliation(s)
- Shicheng Chen
- Medical Laboratory Sciences Program, College of Health and Human Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
| | - Steven Pham
- Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, Royal Oak, MI 48073, USA;
| | - Nicolas Terrapon
- Laboratoire Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), UMR7257 CNRS AMU, USC 1408 INRAE, 13009 Marseille, France;
| | - Jochen Blom
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany;
| | - Edward D. Walker
- Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA;
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Flores GAM, Lopez RP, Cerrudo CS, Perotti MA, Consolo VF, Berón CM. Wolbachia dominance influences the Culex quinquefasciatus microbiota. Sci Rep 2023; 13:18980. [PMID: 37923779 PMCID: PMC10624681 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46067-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Microorganisms present in mosquitoes and their interactions are key factors affecting insect development. Among them, Wolbachia is closely associated with the host and affects several fitness parameters. In this study, the bacterial and fungal microbiota from two laboratory Culex quinquefasciatus isolines (wild type and tetracycline-cured) were characterized by metagenome amplicon sequencing of the ITS2 and 16S rRNA genes at different developmental stages and feeding conditions. We identified 572 bacterial and 61 fungal OTUs. Both isolines presented variable bacterial communities and different trends in the distribution of diversity among the groups. The lowest bacterial richness was detected in sugar-fed adults of the cured isoline, whereas fungal richness was highly reduced in blood-fed mosquitoes. Beta diversity analysis indicated that isolines are an important factor in the differentiation of mosquito bacterial communities. Considering composition, Penicillium was the dominant fungal genus, whereas Wolbachia dominance was inversely related to that of Enterobacteria (mainly Thorsellia and Serratia). This study provides a more complete overview of the mosquito microbiome, emphasizing specific highly abundant components that should be considered in microorganism manipulation approaches to control vector-borne diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo A M Flores
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (INBIOTEC) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Fundación Para Investigaciones Biológicas Aplicadas (FIBA), Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Rocio P Lopez
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (INBIOTEC) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Fundación Para Investigaciones Biológicas Aplicadas (FIBA), Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carolina S Cerrudo
- Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética y Biología Celular y Molecular (LIGBCM), Area Virosis de Insectos (AVI), Departamento Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes and CONICET, Bernal, Argentina
| | - M Alejandra Perotti
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Section, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - V Fabiana Consolo
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (INBIOTEC) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Fundación Para Investigaciones Biológicas Aplicadas (FIBA), Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Corina M Berón
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (INBIOTEC) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Fundación Para Investigaciones Biológicas Aplicadas (FIBA), Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Foo A, Cerdeira L, Hughes GL, Heinz E. Recovery of metagenomic data from the Aedes aegypti microbiome using a reproducible snakemake pipeline: MINUUR. Wellcome Open Res 2023; 8:131. [PMID: 37577055 PMCID: PMC10412942 DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.19155.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Ongoing research of the mosquito microbiome aims to uncover novel strategies to reduce pathogen transmission. Sequencing costs, especially for metagenomics, are however still significant. A resource that is increasingly used to gain insights into host-associated microbiomes is the large amount of publicly available genomic data based on whole organisms like mosquitoes, which includes sequencing reads of the host-associated microbes and provides the opportunity to gain additional value from these initially host-focused sequencing projects. Methods: To analyse non-host reads from existing genomic data, we developed a snakemake workflow called MINUUR (Microbial INsights Using Unmapped Reads). Within MINUUR, reads derived from the host-associated microbiome were extracted and characterised using taxonomic classifications and metagenome assembly followed by binning and quality assessment. We applied this pipeline to five publicly available Aedes aegypti genomic datasets, consisting of 62 samples with a broad range of sequencing depths. Results: We demonstrate that MINUUR recovers previously identified phyla and genera and is able to extract bacterial metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) associated to the microbiome. Of these MAGS, 42 are high-quality representatives with >90% completeness and <5% contamination. These MAGs improve the genomic representation of the mosquito microbiome and can be used to facilitate genomic investigation of key genes of interest. Furthermore, we show that samples with a high number of KRAKEN2 assigned reads produce more MAGs. Conclusions: Our metagenomics workflow, MINUUR, was applied to a range of Aedes aegypti genomic samples to characterise microbiome-associated reads. We confirm the presence of key mosquito-associated symbionts that have previously been identified in other studies and recovered high-quality bacterial MAGs. In addition, MINUUR and its associated documentation are freely available on GitHub and provide researchers with a convenient workflow to investigate microbiome data included in the sequencing data for any applicable host genome of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aidan Foo
- Vector Biology and Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK
| | - Louise Cerdeira
- Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK
| | - Grant L. Hughes
- Vector Biology and Tropical Disease Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK
| | - Eva Heinz
- Vector Biology and Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK
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Mosquera KD, Martínez Villegas LE, Rocha Fernandes G, Rocha David M, Maciel-de-Freitas R, A Moreira L, Lorenzo MG. Egg-laying by female Aedes aegypti shapes the bacterial communities of breeding sites. BMC Biol 2023; 21:97. [PMID: 37101136 PMCID: PMC10134544 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01605-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aedes aegypti, the main arboviral mosquito vector, is attracted to human dwellings and makes use of human-generated breeding sites. Past research has shown that bacterial communities associated with such sites undergo compositional shifts as larvae develop and that exposure to different bacteria during larval stages can have an impact on mosquito development and life-history traits. Based on these facts, we hypothesized that female Ae. aegypti shape the bacteria communities of breeding sites during oviposition as a form of niche construction to favor offspring fitness. RESULTS To test this hypothesis, we first verified that gravid females can act as mechanical vectors of bacteria. We then elaborated an experimental scheme to test the impact of oviposition on breeding site microbiota. Five different groups of experimental breeding sites were set up with a sterile aqueous solution of larval food, and subsequently exposed to (1) the environment alone, (2) surface-sterilized eggs, (3) unsterilized eggs, (4) a non-egg laying female, or (5) oviposition by a gravid female. The microbiota of these differently treated sites was assessed by amplicon-oriented DNA sequencing once the larvae from the sites with eggs had completed development and formed pupae. Microbial ecology analyses revealed significant differences between the five treatments in terms of diversity. In particular, between-treatment shifts in abundance profiles were detected, showing that females induce a significant decrease in microbial alpha diversity through oviposition. In addition, indicator species analysis pinpointed bacterial taxa with significant predicting values and fidelity coefficients for the samples in which single females laid eggs. Furthermore, we provide evidence regarding how one of these indicator taxa, Elizabethkingia, exerts a positive effect on the development and fitness of mosquito larvae. CONCLUSIONS Ovipositing females impact the composition of the microbial community associated with a breeding site, promoting certain bacterial taxa over those prevailing in the environment. Among these bacteria, we found known mosquito symbionts and showed that they can improve offspring fitness if present in the water where eggs are laid. We deem this oviposition-mediated bacterial community shaping as a form of niche construction initiated by the gravid female.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine D Mosquera
- Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group, René Rachou Institute-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Luis Eduardo Martínez Villegas
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, 2001 Fyffe Rd., Room 232 Howlett Hall, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
- Mosquito Vectors: Endosymbionts and Pathogen-Vector Interactions Group, René Rachou Institute-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Mariana Rocha David
- Laboratory of Hematozoa Transmitting Mosquitoes, Oswaldo Cruz Institute-FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rafael Maciel-de-Freitas
- Laboratory of Hematozoa Transmitting Mosquitoes, Oswaldo Cruz Institute-FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Luciano A Moreira
- Mosquito Vectors: Endosymbionts and Pathogen-Vector Interactions Group, René Rachou Institute-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Marcelo G Lorenzo
- Vector Behavior and Pathogen Interaction Group, René Rachou Institute-FIOCRUZ, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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Villegas LEM, Radl J, Dimopoulos G, Short SM. Bacterial communities of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes differ between crop and midgut tissues. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2023; 17:e0011218. [PMID: 36989328 PMCID: PMC10085046 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbiota studies of Aedes aegypti and other mosquitoes generally focus on the bacterial communities found in adult female midguts. However, other compartments of the digestive tract maintain communities of bacteria which remain almost entirely unstudied. For example, the Dipteran crop is a food storage organ, but few studies have looked at the microbiome of crops in mosquitoes, and only a single previous study has investigated the crop in Ae. aegypti. In this study, we used both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods to compare the bacterial communities in midguts and crops of laboratory reared Ae. aegypti. Both methods revealed a trend towards higher abundance, but also higher variability, of bacteria in the midgut than the crop. When present, bacteria from the genus Elizabethkingia (family Weeksellaceae) dominated midgut bacterial communities. In crops, we found a higher diversity of bacteria, and these communities were generally dominated by acetic acid bacteria (family Acetobacteriaceae) from the genera Tanticharoenia and Asaia. These three taxa drove significant community structure differences between the tissues. We used FAPROTAX to predict the metabolic functions of these communities and found that crop bacterial communities were significantly more likely to contain bacteria capable of methanol oxidation and methylotrophy. Both the presence of acetic acid bacteria (which commonly catabolize sugar to produce acetic acid) and the functional profile that includes methanol oxidation (which is correlated with bacteria found with natural sources like nectar) may relate to the presence of sugar, which is stored in the mosquito crop. A better understanding of what bacteria are present in the digestive tract of mosquitoes and how these communities assemble will inform how the microbiota impacts mosquito physiology and the full spectrum of functions provided by the microbiota. It may also facilitate better methods of engineering the mosquito microbiome for vector control or prevention of disease transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - James Radl
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - George Dimopoulos
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Sarah M. Short
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
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Metabolic interactions between disease-transmitting vectors and their microbiota. Trends Parasitol 2022; 38:697-708. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Steven B, Hyde J, LaReau JC, Brackney DE. The Axenic and Gnotobiotic Mosquito: Emerging Models for Microbiome Host Interactions. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:714222. [PMID: 34322111 PMCID: PMC8312643 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.714222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The increasing availability of modern research tools has enabled a revolution in studies of non-model organisms. Yet, one aspect that remains difficult or impossible to control in many model and most non-model organisms is the presence and composition of the host-associated microbiota or the microbiome. In this review, we explore the development of axenic (microbe-free) mosquito models and what these systems reveal about the role of the microbiome in mosquito biology. Additionally, the axenic host is a blank template on which a microbiome of known composition can be introduced, also known as a gnotobiotic organism. Finally, we identify a "most wanted" list of common mosquito microbiome members that show the greatest potential to influence host phenotypes. We propose that these are high-value targets to be employed in future gnotobiotic studies. The use of axenic and gnotobiotic organisms will transition the microbiome into another experimental variable that can be manipulated and controlled. Through these efforts, the mosquito will be a true model for examining host microbiome interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blaire Steven
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Josephine Hyde
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Jacquelyn C. LaReau
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Doug E. Brackney
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, United States
- Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, United States
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Ganley JG, Pandey A, Sylvester K, Lu KY, Toro-Moreno M, Rütschlin S, Bradford JM, Champion CJ, Böttcher T, Xu J, Derbyshire ER. A Systematic Analysis of Mosquito-Microbiome Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Reveals Antimalarial Siderophores that Reduce Mosquito Reproduction Capacity. Cell Chem Biol 2020; 27:817-826.e5. [PMID: 32619453 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2020.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Advances in infectious disease control strategies through genetic manipulation of insect microbiomes have heightened interest in microbially produced small molecules within mosquitoes. Herein, 33 mosquito-associated bacterial genomes were mined and over 700 putative biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) were identified, 135 of which belong to known classes of BGCs. After an in-depth analysis of the 135 BGCs, iron-binding siderophores were chosen for further investigation due to their high abundance and well-characterized bioactivities. Through various metabolomic strategies, eight siderophore scaffolds were identified in six strains of mosquito-associated bacteria. Among these, serratiochelin A and pyochelin were found to reduce female Anopheles gambiae overall fecundity likely by lowering their blood-feeding rate. Serratiochelin A and pyochelin were further found to inhibit the Plasmodium parasite asexual blood and liver stages in vitro. Our work supplies a bioinformatic resource for future mosquito-microbiome studies and highlights an understudied source of bioactive small molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack G Ganley
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Ashmita Pandey
- Department of Biology, Molecular Biology Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Kayla Sylvester
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kuan-Yi Lu
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Sina Rütschlin
- Department of Chemistry, Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology, Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Cody J Champion
- Department of Biology, Molecular Biology Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Thomas Böttcher
- Department of Chemistry, Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology, Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jiannong Xu
- Department of Biology, Molecular Biology Program, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Emily R Derbyshire
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
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