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Tuazon H, David S, Ma K, Bhamla MS. Leeches Predate on Fast-Escaping and Entangling Blackworms by Spiral Entombment. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.14.594257. [PMID: 38798328 PMCID: PMC11118295 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.14.594257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
We investigate how the Helobdella spp. freshwater leeches capture and consume Lumbriculus variegatus blackworms despite the blackworm's ultrafast helical swimming escape reflex and ability to form large tangled 'blobs'. We describe our discovery of a unique spiral 'entombment' strategy used by these leeches to overcome the blackworms' active and collective defenses. Unlike their approach to less reactive and solitary prey like mollusks, where leeches simply attach and suck, Helobdella leeches employ this spiral entombment strategy specifically adapted for blackworms. Our findings highlight the complex interactions between predator and prey in freshwater ecosystems, providing insights into ecological adaptability and predator-prey dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harry Tuazon
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
| | - Samuel David
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
| | - Kenneth Ma
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
| | - M. Saad Bhamla
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
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Dai C, Chen X, Qian S, Fan Y, Li L, Yuan J. Dysbiosis of intestinal homeostasis contribute to Whitmania pigra edema disease. Microb Biotechnol 2023; 16:1940-1956. [PMID: 37410351 PMCID: PMC10527190 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Whitmania pigra is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, W. pigra is being threatened by an edema disease with unknown causes (WPE). In this study, a comprehensive exploration of virome, microbiome, and metabolome aberrations in the intestine of W. pigra was performed to address the aetiology of WPE. Virome analysis indicated that eukaryotic viruses did not contribute to WPE, whereas an expansion of Caudovirales was observed in WPE. Compared to the control, the microbial richness and diversity in diseased W. pigra decreased remarkably. Nine genera, including Aeromonas, Anaerotruncus, Vibrio, Proteocatella, Acinetobacter, and Brachyspira were overrepresented in WPE, whereas eleven genera, including Bifidobacterium, Phascolarctobacterium, Lactobacillus, Bacillus and AF12, were enriched in healthy individuals. Furthermore, certain metabolites, especially amino acids, short-chain fatty acids, and bile acids, were found to be linked to intestinal microbiota alterations in WPE. An integration of the microbiome and metabolome in WPE found that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota or metabolites caused WPE. Notably, W. pigra accepted intestinal microbiota transplantation from WPE donors developed WPE clinical signs eventually, and the dysbiotic intestinal microbiota can be recharacterized in this recipient W. pigra. Strikingly, pathological features of metanephridium and uraemic toxin enrichment in the gut indicated a putative interconnection between the gut and metanephridium in WPE, which represents the prototype of the gut-kidney axis in mammals. These finding exemplify the conservation of "microecological Koch's postulates" from annelids to insects and other vertebrates, which provides a direction of prevention and treatment for WPE and opens a new insight into the pathogenesis of aquatic animal diseases from an ecological perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caijiao Dai
- Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, College of FisheriesHuazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhanChina
- National Aquatic Animal Diseases Para‐reference laboratory (HZAU)WuhanChina
| | - Xin Chen
- Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, College of FisheriesHuazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhanChina
- National Aquatic Animal Diseases Para‐reference laboratory (HZAU)WuhanChina
| | - Shiyu Qian
- Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, College of FisheriesHuazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhanChina
- Hubei Engineering Research Centre for Aquatic Animal Diseases Control and PreventionWuhanChina
| | - Yihui Fan
- Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, College of FisheriesHuazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhanChina
- Hubei Engineering Research Centre for Aquatic Animal Diseases Control and PreventionWuhanChina
| | - Lijuan Li
- Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, College of FisheriesHuazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhanChina
- National Aquatic Animal Diseases Para‐reference laboratory (HZAU)WuhanChina
- Hubei Engineering Research Centre for Aquatic Animal Diseases Control and PreventionWuhanChina
| | - Junfa Yuan
- Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine, College of FisheriesHuazhong Agricultural UniversityWuhanChina
- National Aquatic Animal Diseases Para‐reference laboratory (HZAU)WuhanChina
- Hubei Engineering Research Centre for Aquatic Animal Diseases Control and PreventionWuhanChina
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Kwak HJ, Medina-Jiménez BI, Park SC, Kim JH, Jeong GH, Jeon MJ, Kim S, Kim JW, Weisblat DA, Cho SJ. Slit-Robo expression in the leech nervous system: insights into eyespot evolution. Cell Biosci 2023; 13:70. [PMID: 37013648 PMCID: PMC10071614 DOI: 10.1186/s13578-023-01019-1] [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: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Slit and Robo are evolutionarily conserved ligand and receptor proteins, respectively, but the number of slit and robo gene paralogs varies across recent bilaterian genomes. Previous studies indicate that this ligand-receptor complex is involved in axon guidance. Given the lack of data regarding Slit/Robo in the Lophotrochozoa compared to Ecdysozoa and Deuterostomia, the present study aims to identify and characterize the expression of Slit/Robo orthologs in leech development. RESULTS We identified one slit (Hau-slit), and two robo genes (Hau-robo1 and Hau-robo2), and characterized their expression spatiotemporally during the development of the glossiphoniid leech Helobdella austinensis. Throughout segmentation and organogenesis, Hau-slit and Hau-robo1 are broadly expressed in complex and roughly complementary patterns in the ventral and dorsal midline, nerve ganglia, foregut, visceral mesoderm and/or endoderm of the crop, rectum and reproductive organs. Before yolk exhaustion, Hau-robo1 is also expressed where the pigmented eye spots will later develop, and Hau-slit is expressed in the area between these future eye spots. In contrast, Hau-robo2 expression is extremely limited, appearing first in the developing pigmented eye spots, and later in the three additional pairs of cryptic eye spots in head region that never develop pigment. Comparing the expression of robo orthologs between H. austinensis and another glossiphoniid leech, Alboglossiphonia lata allows to that robo1 and robo2 operate combinatorially to differentially specify pigmented and cryptic eyespots within the glossiphoniid leeches. CONCLUSIONS Our results support a conserved role in neurogenesis, midline formation and eye spot development for Slit/Robo in the Lophotrochozoa, and provide relevant data for evo-devo studies related to nervous system evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hee-Jin Kwak
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Faculty of Science, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 9190401, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Brenda I Medina-Jiménez
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
- Department of Earth Sciences, Paleobiology, Geocentrum, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Soon Cheol Park
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung-Hyeuk Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
- Wildlife Disease Response Team, National Institute of Wildlife Disease Control and Prevention, Incheon, 22689, Republic of Korea
| | - Geon-Hwi Jeong
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Mi-Jeong Jeon
- National Institute of Biological Resources, Environmental Research Complex, Incheon, 22689, Republic of Korea
| | - Sangil Kim
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Jung-Woong Kim
- Department of Life Science, College of Natural Sciences, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, 06974, Republic of Korea
| | - David A Weisblat
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, 385 Weill Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3200, USA.
| | - Sung-Jin Cho
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, College of Natural Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea.
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Esophageal hirudiniasis: an unusual cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Future Sci OA 2022; 8:FSO802. [PMID: 35910000 PMCID: PMC9327638 DOI: 10.2144/fsoa-2022-0023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Leeches are carnivorous, hermaphroditic, segmented worms mainly found in fresh water. The majority of leech attachments are external and short-lasting. Internal surfaces can be involved. Yet, esophageal attachment is very rare. We report a case of a 59-year-old female who presented with hematemesis, melena and chest pain. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a round black foreign body in the mid-third of the esophagus identified as a leech. We carefully extracted the worm with a forceps applied to the middle of its body. The diagnosis of leech infestation should be kept in mind when exploring gastrointestinal bleeding in patients living in rural areas and those with poor living conditions.
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Fischer F, Best R, LaRocca-Stravalle Z, Kauffman J, Gillen K. Validation of three reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR analyses in regenerating Lumbriculus variegatus. GENE REPORTS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2022.101538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Tong L, Dai SX, Kong DJ, Yang PP, Tong X, Tong XR, Bi XX, Su Y, Zhao YQ, Liu ZC. The genome of medicinal leech (Whitmania pigra) and comparative genomic study for exploration of bioactive ingredients. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:76. [PMID: 35073842 PMCID: PMC8787918 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-08290-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Leeches are classic annelids that have a huge diversity and are closely related to people, especially medicinal leeches. Medicinal leeches have been widely utilized in medicine based on the pharmacological activities of their bioactive ingredients. Comparative genomic study of these leeches enables us to understand the difference among medicinal leeches and other leeches and facilitates the discovery of bioactive ingredients.
Results
In this study, we reported the genome of Whitmania pigra and compared it with Hirudo medicinalis and Helobdella robusta. The assembled genome size of W. pigra is 177 Mbp, close to the estimated genome size. Approximately about 23% of the genome was repetitive. A total of 26,743 protein-coding genes were subsequently predicted. W. pigra have 12346 (46%) and 10295 (38%) orthologous genes with H. medicinalis and H. robusta, respectively. About 20 and 24% genes in W. pigra showed syntenic arrangement with H. medicinalis and H. robusta, respectively, revealed by gene synteny analysis. Furthermore, W. pigra, H. medicinalis and H. robusta expanded different gene families enriched in different biological processes. By inspecting genome distribution and gene structure of hirudin, we identified a new hirudin gene g17108 (hirudin_2) with different cysteine patterns. Finally, we systematically explored and compared the active substances in the genomes of three leech species. The results showed that W. pigra and H. medicinalis exceed H. robusta in both kinds and gene number of active molecules.
Conclusions
This study reported the genome of W. pigra and compared it with other two leeches, which provides an important genome resource and new insight into the exploration and development of bioactive molecules of medicinal leeches. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-08290-5.
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Groves TKH, Jellies JA. Spectral responses across a dorsal-ventral array of dermal sensilla in the medicinal leech. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2021; 207:715-727. [PMID: 34477962 PMCID: PMC8568864 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-021-01508-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Revised: 08/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
How do animals use visual systems to extract specific features of a visual scene and respond appropriately? The medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana, is a predatory, quasi-amphibious annelid with a rich sensorium that is an excellent system in which to study how sensory cues are encoded, and how key features of visual images are mapped into the CNS. The leech visual system is broadly distributed over its entire body, consisting of five pairs of cephalic eyecups and seven segmentally iterated pairs of dermal sensilla in each mid-body segment. Leeches have been shown to respond behaviorally to both green and near ultraviolet light (UV, 365–375 nm). Here, we used electrophysiological techniques to show that spectral responses by dermal sensilla are mapped across the dorsal–ventral axis, such that the ventral sensilla respond strongly to UV light, while dorsal sensilla respond strongly to visible light, broadly tuned around green. These results establish how key features of visual information are initially encoded by spatial mapping of photo-response profiles of primary photoreceptors and provide insight into how these streams of information are presented to the CNS to inform behavioral responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas K H Groves
- Department of Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008, USA
| | - John A Jellies
- Department of Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008, USA.
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Solgi R, Raz A, Zakeri S, Tavakoli Kareshk A, Yousef A, Jarehan A, Dinparast Djadid N. Morphological and molecular description of parasitic leeches (Annelida: Hirudinea) isolated from rice field of Bandar Anzali, North of Iran. GENE REPORTS 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.genrep.2021.101162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Heath-Heckman E, Yoo S, Winchell C, Pellegrino M, Angstadt J, Lammardo VB, Bautista D, De-Miguel FF, Weisblat D. Transcriptional profiling of identified neurons in leech. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:215. [PMID: 33765928 PMCID: PMC7992859 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07526-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background While leeches in the genus Hirudo have long been models for neurobiology, the molecular underpinnings of nervous system structure and function in this group remain largely unknown. To begin to bridge this gap, we performed RNASeq on pools of identified neurons of the central nervous system (CNS): sensory T (touch), P (pressure) and N (nociception) neurons; neurosecretory Retzius cells; and ganglia from which these four cell types had been removed. Results Bioinformatic analyses identified 3565 putative genes whose expression differed significantly among the samples. These genes clustered into 9 groups which could be associated with one or more of the identified cell types. We verified predicted expression patterns through in situ hybridization on whole CNS ganglia, and found that orthologous genes were for the most part similarly expressed in a divergent leech genus, suggesting evolutionarily conserved roles for these genes. Transcriptional profiling allowed us to identify candidate phenotype-defining genes from expanded gene families. Thus, we identified one of eight hyperpolarization-activated cyclic-nucleotide gated (HCN) channels as a candidate for mediating the prominent sag current in P neurons, and found that one of five inositol triphosphate receptors (IP3Rs), representing a sub-family of IP3Rs absent from vertebrate genomes, is expressed with high specificity in T cells. We also identified one of two piezo genes, two of ~ 65 deg/enac genes, and one of at least 16 transient receptor potential (trp) genes as prime candidates for involvement in sensory transduction in the three distinct classes of leech mechanosensory neurons. Conclusions Our study defines distinct transcriptional profiles for four different neuronal types within the leech CNS, in addition to providing a second ganglionic transcriptome for the species. From these data we identified five gene families that may facilitate the sensory capabilities of these neurons, thus laying the basis for future work leveraging the strengths of the leech system to investigate the molecular processes underlying and linking mechanosensation, cell type specification, and behavior. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-021-07526-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Heath-Heckman
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. .,Current address: Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
| | - Shinja Yoo
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Christopher Winchell
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Maurizio Pellegrino
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.,Current address: Invitae Corporation, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - James Angstadt
- Department of Biology, Siena College, Loudonville, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Diana Bautista
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Francisco F De-Miguel
- Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - David Weisblat
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
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Tanaka M. Ecology, Evolution and Development. Dev Growth Differ 2019; 61:3-4. [DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mikiko Tanaka
- School of Life Science and Technology; Tokyo Institute of Technology; Yokohama Japan
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Love AC, Yoshida Y. Reflections on Model Organisms in Evolutionary Developmental Biology. Results Probl Cell Differ 2019; 68:3-20. [PMID: 31598850 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-23459-1_1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
This chapter reflects on and makes explicit the distinctiveness of reasoning practices associated with model organisms in the context of evolutionary developmental research. Model organisms in evo-devo instantiate a unique synthesis of model systems strategies from developmental biology and comparative strategies from evolutionary biology that negotiate a tension between developmental conservation and evolutionary change to address scientific questions about the evolution of development and the developmental basis of evolutionary change. We review different categories of model systems that have been advanced to understand practices found in the life sciences in order to comprehend how evo-devo model organisms instantiate this synthesis in the context of three examples: the starlet sea anemone and the evolution of bilateral symmetry, leeches and the origins of segmentation in bilaterians, and the corn snake to understand major evolutionary change in axial and appendicular morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan C Love
- Department of Philosophy and Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
| | - Yoshinari Yoshida
- Department of Philosophy and Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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