1
|
Tatsinkou Maffo CG, Sandeu MM, Tchoupo M, Dondji Kamga FM, Mugenzi LMJ, Njiokou F, Hughes GL, Wondji CS. Contrasting patterns of Asaia association with Plasmodium falciparum between field-collected Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii from Cameroon. Microbiol Spectr 2024:e0056724. [PMID: 39530680 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00567-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 09/13/2024] [Indexed: 11/16/2024] Open
Abstract
The widespread prevalence of Asaia in mosquitoes makes it a potential candidate for paratrangenic control in Anopheles. To better understand whether this bacterium could be used for malaria control, we quantified Asaia in An. gambiae s.l populations in malaria endemic regions examining co-infection with Plasmodium falciparum. Adult Anopheles mosquitoes were collected across two different eco-geographical localities in Cameroon, during both the dry and wet seasons. DNA was extracted from whole individual mosquitoes, and real time-qPCR amplification of the 16S ribosomal RNA was used to quantify Asaia in both An. gambiae and An. coluzzii samples. We also detected and quantified P. falciparum infection in the same mosquitoes. The density of Asaia was successfully quantified in a total of 864 field mosquitoes, comprising of 439 An. gambiae from Bankeng and 424 An. coluzii collected from Gounougou. Interestingly, a higher prevalence of Asaia in An. gambiae (88.3%) compared to An. coluzzii (80.9%) was observed. Moreover, the density of Asaia in both species was significantly affected by seasonal changes in the two localities. Furthermore, a significant difference between the infection densities of Asaia and the Plasmodium infection status in the two species was recorded. However, no correlation was observed between the number of Asaia and P. falciparum infections. This study provides evidence that naturally occurring Asaia infection is not correlated to P. falciparum development within An. gambiae and An. coluzzii. Nevertheless, further studies incorporating experimental infections are required to better investigate the correlation between Anopheles mosquitoes, Asaia, and Plasmodium.IMPORTANCEThe symbiont Asaia has emerged as a promising candidate for paratransgenic control of malaria, but further analysis of its biology and genetics across Africa is necessary. In this study, we investigated and quantified the influence of Asaia in naturally infected An. gambiae s.l. populations with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole individual mosquitoes collected from two localities, and Asaia was quantified using real-time qPCR by amplification of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. We also detected and quantified Plasmodium falciparum infection in the same mosquitoes and established the correlation between Asaia and Plasmodium coinfection. This study provides evidence that naturally occurring Asaia infection is not correlated with P. falciparum development within An. gambiae and An. coluzzii mosquitoes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Claudine Grâce Tatsinkou Maffo
- Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), LSTM Research Unit, Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Department of Animal Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Maurice Marcel Sandeu
- Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), LSTM Research Unit, Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences, University of Ngaoundéré, Ngaoundéré, Cameroon
| | - Micareme Tchoupo
- Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), LSTM Research Unit, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Fleuriane Metissa Dondji Kamga
- Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), LSTM Research Unit, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Leon M J Mugenzi
- Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), LSTM Research Unit, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Flobert Njiokou
- Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), LSTM Research Unit, Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Department of Animal Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Grant L Hughes
- Departments of Vector Biology and Tropical Disease Biology, Centre for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Charles S Wondji
- Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), LSTM Research Unit, Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Biedrzycka A, Konopiński MK, Popiołek M, Zawiślak M, Bartoszewicz M, Kloch A. Non-MHC immunity genes do not affect parasite load in European invasive populations of common raccoon. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15696. [PMID: 37735177 PMCID: PMC10514260 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41721-1] [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: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms behind invasion success enables predicting which alien species and populations are the most predisposed to become invasive. Parasites may mediate the success of biological invasions through their effect on host fitness. The evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis assumes that escape from parasites during the invasion process allows introduced species to decrease investment in immunity and allocate resources to dispersal and reproduction. Consequently, the selective pressure of parasites on host species in the invasive range should be relaxed. We used the case of the raccoon Procyon lotor invasion in Europe to investigate the effect of gastrointestinal pathogen pressure on non-MHC immune genetic diversity of newly established invasive populations. Despite distinct differences in parasite prevalence between analysed populations, we detected only marginal associations between two analysed SNPs and infection intensity. We argue that the differences in parasite prevalence are better explained by detected earlier associations with specific MHC-DRB alleles. While the escape from native parasites seems to allow decreased investment in overall immunity, which relaxes selective pressure imposed on immune genes, a wide range of MHC variants maintained in the invasive range may protect from newly encountered parasites.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Biedrzycka
- Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Mickiewicza 33, 31-120, Kraków, Poland.
| | - Maciej K Konopiński
- Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Mickiewicza 33, 31-120, Kraków, Poland
| | - Marcin Popiołek
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Przybyszewskiego 63/67, 51-148, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Marlena Zawiślak
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Przybyszewskiego 63/67, 51-148, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | - Agnieszka Kloch
- Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-089, Warszawa, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Jones CM, Ciubotariu II, Muleba M, Lupiya J, Mbewe D, Simubali L, Mudenda T, Gebhardt ME, Carpi G, Malcolm AN, Kosinski KJ, Romero-Weaver AL, Stevenson JC, Lee Y, Norris DE. Multiple Novel Clades of Anopheline Mosquitoes Caught Outdoors in Northern Zambia. FRONTIERS IN TROPICAL DISEASES 2021; 2. [PMID: 35983564 PMCID: PMC9384971 DOI: 10.3389/fitd.2021.780664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Residual vector populations that do not come in contact with the most frequently utilized indoor-directed interventions present major challenges to global malaria eradication. Many of these residual populations are mosquito species about which little is known. As part of a study to assess the threat of outdoor exposure to malaria mosquitoes within the Southern and Central Africa International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research, foraging female anophelines were collected outside households in Nchelenge District, northern Zambia. These anophelines proved to be more diverse than had previously been reported in the area. In order to further characterize the anopheline species, sequencing and phylogenetic approaches were utilized. Anopheline mosquitoes were collected from outdoor light traps, morphologically identified, and sent to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for sequencing. Sanger sequencing from 115 field-derived samples yielded mitochondrial COI sequences, which were aligned with a homologous 488 bp gene segment from known anophelines (n = 140) retrieved from NCBI. Nuclear ITS2 sequences (n = 57) for at least one individual from each unique COI clade were generated and compared against NCBI’s nucleotide BLAST database to provide additional evidence for taxonomical identity and structure. Molecular and morphological data were combined for assignment of species or higher taxonomy. Twelve phylogenetic groups were characterized from the COI and ITS2 sequence data, including the primary vector species Anopheles funestus s.s. and An. gambiae s.s. An unexpectedly large proportion of the field collections were identified as An. coustani and An. sp. 6. Six phylogenetic groups remain unidentified to species-level. Outdoor collections of anopheline mosquitoes in areas frequented by people in Nchelenge, northern Zambia, proved to be extremely diverse. Morphological misidentification and underrepresentation of some anopheline species in sequence databases confound efforts to confirm identity of potential malaria vector species. The large number of unidentified anophelines could compromise the malaria vector surveillance and malaria control efforts not only in northern Zambia but other places where surveillance and control are focused on indoor-foraging and resting anophelines. Therefore, it is critical to continue development of methodologies that allow better identification of these populations and revisiting and cleaning current genomic databases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christine M. Jones
- The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Ilinca I. Ciubotariu
- The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | | | - James Lupiya
- Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Zambia
| | - David Mbewe
- Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Zambia
| | | | | | - Mary E. Gebhardt
- The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Giovanna Carpi
- The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Ashley N. Malcolm
- Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Vero Beach, FL, United States
| | - Kyle J. Kosinski
- Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Vero Beach, FL, United States
| | - Ana L. Romero-Weaver
- Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Vero Beach, FL, United States
| | - Jennifer C. Stevenson
- The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Yoosook Lee
- Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Vero Beach, FL, United States
- Correspondence: Yoosook Lee, ; Douglas E. Norris,
| | | | | |
Collapse
|