Keywords: microbiome engineering

Engineered symbiotic bacteria interfering <em>Nosema</em> redox system inhibit microsporidia parasitism in honeybees

H. Lang, H. Wang, H. Wang, X. Xie, X. Hu, X. Zhang and H. Zheng,  bioRxiv,  2023.01.13.524015. 2023.
Nosema ceranae is an emergent microsporidia parasite of the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), which causes serious nosemosis implicated in honeybee colony losses worldwide. N. ceranae is an obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasite that mainly invades the midgut of honeybees. ...
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An evaluation of fusion partner proteins for paratransgenesis in Asaia bogorensis

C. Grogan, M. Bennett and D. J. Lampe,  Plos One,  17:18. 2022.
Mosquitoes transmit many pathogens responsible for human diseases, such as malaria which is caused by parasites in the genus Plasmodium. Current strategies to control vector-transmitted diseases are increasingly undermined by mosquito and pathogen resistance, so additional ...
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Rational engineering of a synthetic insect-bacterial mutualism

Y. Su, H.-C. Lin, L. S. Teh, F. Chevance, I. James, C. Mayfield, K. G. Golic, J. A. Gagnon, O. Rog and C. Dale,  Current Biology,  2022.
Summary Many insects maintain mutualistic associations with bacterial endosymbionts, but little is known about how they originate in nature. In this study, we describe the establishment and manipulation of a synthetic insect-bacterial symbiosis in a weevil host. Following egg ...
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Biologists engineered insect-bacterial mutualism in ‘bucket list’ achievement

Annonymous,  @THEU,  2022.
A new paper in Current Biology authored by Crystal Su and other collaborators in the School of Biological Sciences describes the development of a novel, synthetic insect-bacterial symbiosis that is sustained through many insect generations by transovarial bacterial transmission. ...
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Sexual transmission of Anopheles gambiae densovirus (AgDNV) leads to disseminated infection in mated females

K. L. Werling, R. M. Johnson, H. C. Metz and J. L. Rasgon,  Parasites and Vectors,  15:219. 2022.
Anopheles gambiae densovirus (AgDNV) is an insect-specific, single-stranded DNA virus that infects An. gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.), the major mosquito species responsible for transmitting malaria parasites throughout sub-Saharan Africa. AgDNV is a benign virus that is very ...
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New weapons to fight malaria transmission: A historical view

W. Huang, S.-J. Cha and M. Jacobs-Lorena,  Entomological Research,  2022.
The stagnation of our fight against malaria in recent years, mainly due to the development of mosquito insecticide resistance, argues for the urgent development of new weapons. The dramatic evolution of molecular tools in the last few decades led to a better understanding of ...
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Overview of paratransgenesis as a strategy to control pathogen transmission by insect vectors

N. A. Ratcliffe, J. P. Furtado Pacheco, P. Dyson, H. C. Castro, M. S. Gonzalez, P. Azambuja and C. B. Mello,  Parasites and Vectors,  15:112. 2022.
This article presents an overview of paratransgenesis as a strategy to control pathogen transmission by insect vectors. It first briefly summarises some of the disease-causing pathogens vectored by insects and emphasises the need for innovative control methods to counter the ...
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