Keywords: Other Symbionts

Comparative analysis of Wolbachia maternal transmission and localization in host ovaries

Tags: ,
Hague, M.T.J., Wheeler, T.B. and Cooper, B.S.,  Communications Biology,  7. 2024.
Many insects and other animals carry microbial endosymbionts that influence their reproduction and fitness. These relationships only persist if endosymbionts are reliably transmitted from one host generation to the next. Wolbachia are maternally transmitted endosymbionts found in ...

Wolbachia symbionts control sex in a parasitoid wasp using a horizontally acquired gene

Tags: , , ,
Li C, Li CQ, Chen ZB, Liu BQ, Sun X, Wei KH, Li CY, Luan JB.,  Current Biology,  2024.
Host reproduction can be manipulated by bacterial symbionts in various ways. Parthenogenesis induction is the most effective type of reproduction manipulation by symbionts for their transmission. Insect sex is determined by regulation of doublesex (dsx) splicing through ...

Wolbachia Transinfection Via Embryonic Microinjection

Tags: , ,
Zhang, M., Xi, Z.,  Methods in Molecular Biology,  2739. 2023.
The process of transferring Wolbachia from one species to another to establish a stable, maternally inherited infection in the target species is known as transinfection. The success of transinfection is primarily achieved through embryonic microinjection, which is the most direct ...

Biotechnological Potential of Microorganisms for Mosquito Population Control and Reduction in Vector Competence

Tags: , , , ,
R. D. Katak, A. M. Cintra, B. C. Burini, O. Marinotti, J. A. Souza-Neto and E. M. Rocha,  Insects,  14. 2023.
Mosquitoes transmit pathogens that cause human diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika fever, and filariasis. Biotechnological approaches using microorganisms have a significant potential to control mosquito populations and reduce their vector ...

A recombinant Aspergillus oryzae fungus transmitted from larvae to adults of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes inhibits malaria parasite oocyst development

Tags: , ,
L. Kianifard, A. M. Rafiqi, O. Akcakir, A. S. I. Aly, P. F. Billingsley and S. Uysal,  Scientific Reports,  13:12177. 2023.
The control of malaria parasite transmission from mosquitoes to humans is hampered by decreasing efficacies of insecticides, development of drug resistance against the last-resort antimalarials, and the absence of effective vaccines. Herein, the anti-plasmodial transmission ...

Wolbachia has subtle effects on thermal preference in highly inbred Drosophila melanogaster which vary with life stage and environmental conditions

Tags: , , ,
A. Strunov, C. Schoenherr and M. Kapun,  Scientific Reports,  13:13792. 2023.
Temperature fluctuations are challenging for ectotherms which are not able to regulate body temperature by physiological means and thus have to adjust their thermal environment via behavior. However, little is yet known about whether microbial symbionts influence thermal ...

A mosquito symbiont takes down malaria

Tags: , ,
A. Taglialegna,  Nature Reviews Microbiology,  2023.
Malaria, a parasitic infection transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, is globally prevalent. Control strategies for malaria include insecticides and antiparasitic drugs, which target the mosquito vector or the parasite in the human host, respectively. The effectiveness of these ...

Malaria’s latest foe? Bacteria.

Tags: , , ,
M. Coulson,  Johns Hopkins,  2023.
In a new paper published in Science, Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, PhD, professor emeritus in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and his colleagues, in collaboration with researchers at GSK Global Health Medicines R&D, show that a naturally occurring bacterium and a chemical it ...

A naturally occurring bacteria can stop the malaria parasite right in a mosquito’s gut

Tags: , ,
A. Bhattacharya,  Quartz,  2023.
Scientists at a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) research facility in Spain discovered that a strain of Delftia tsuruhatensis bacterium, named Tres Cantos 1 (TC1), inhibits the malaria parasite in mosquitoes, known as Plasmodium. Researchers suspected something was going on when the ...

Delftia tsuruhatensis TC1 symbiont suppresses malaria transmission by anopheline mosquitoes

Tags: , , ,
W. Huang, J. Rodrigues, E. Bilgo, J. R. Tormo, J. D. Challenger, C. De Cozar-Gallardo, I. Pérez-Victoria, F. Reyes, P. Castañeda-Casado, E. J. Gnambani, D. F. d. S. Hien, M. Konkobo, B. Urones, I. Coppens, A. Mendoza-Losana, L. Ballell, A. Diabate, T. S.,  Science,  381:533-540. 2023.
Malaria control demands the development of a wide range of complementary strategies. We describe the properties of a naturally occurring, non?genetically modified symbiotic bacterium, Delftia tsuruhatensis TC1, which was isolated from mosquitoes incapable of sustaining the ...

Microbe stops mosquitoes from harboring malaria parasite

Tags: , , ,
C. Offord,  Science,  2023.
Researchers have tried to use microbes to control mosquito-borne diseases before. The virus-fighting bacterium Wolbachia pipientis has shown particular promise against dengue fever in recent clinical trials and is already used in some areas of the world. But most methods for ...

Engineered Gut Symbiotic Bacterium-Mediated RNAi for Effective Control of Anopheles Mosquito Larvae

Tags: , , ,
J. J. Ding, C. L. Cui, G. D. Wang, G. Wei, L. Bai, Y. F. Li, P. L. Sun, L. Dong, Z. C. Liu, J. Q. Yun, F. Li, K. Li, L. He and S. B. Wang,  Microbiology Spectrum,  2023.
Anopheles mosquitoes are the primary vectors for the transmission of malaria parasites, which poses a devastating burden on global public health and welfare. The recent invasion of Anopheles stephensi in Africa has made malaria eradication more challenging due to its outdoor ...

Molecular detection of reproductive symbionts and parthenogenesis experiments in Tuta absoluta from Argentina: facing potential for sustainable and specific pest control strategies

Tags: , , , ,
C. Cagnotti, C. Conte, J. Kramar, S. Lanzavecchia and S. López,  Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata,  2023.
Tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is a key pest of tomato crops. Specific and environmentally friendly control strategies against this pest, such as the sterile insect technique (SIT), are under development and sexual reproduction has emerged ...

Holobiont perspectives on tripartite interactions among microbiota, mosquitoes, and pathogens

Tags: , , , ,
R. Zheng, Q. Wang, R. Wu, P. N. Paradkar, A. A. Hoffmann and G. H. Wang,  ISME,  2023.
Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and malaria cause a significant global health burden. Unfortunately, current insecticides and environmental control strategies aimed at the vectors of these diseases are only moderately effective in decreasing disease burden. Understanding and ...

Combined actions of bacteriophage-encoded genes in Wolbachia-induced male lethality

Tags: , ,
H. Arai, H. Anbutsu, Y. Nishikawa, M. Kogawa, K. Ishii, M. Hosokawa, S. R. Lin, M. Ueda, M. Nakai, Y. Kunimi, T. Harumoto, D. Kageyama, H. Takeyama and M. N. Inoue,  iScience,  26:106842. 2023.
Some Wolbachia endosymbionts induce male killing, whereby male offspring of infected females are killed during development; however, the origin and diversity of the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we identified a 76 kbp prophage region specific to ...

A rapidly spreading deleterious aphid endosymbiont that uses horizontal as well as vertical transmission

Tags: , ,
X. Gu, P. A. Ross, A. Gill, Q. Yang, E. Ansermin, S. Sharma, S. Soleimannejad, K. Sharma, A. Callahan, C. Brown, P. A. Umina, T. N. Kristensen and A. A. Hoffmann,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  120:e2217278120. 2023.
Endosymbiotic bacteria that live inside the cells of insects are typically only transmitted maternally and can spread by increasing host fitness and/or modifying reproduction in sexual hosts. Transinfections of Wolbachia endosymbionts are now being used to introduce useful ...

A rapidly spreading deleterious aphid endosymbiont that uses horizontal as well as vertical transmission

Tags: , ,
X. Gu, P. A. Ross, A. Gill, Q. Yang, E. Ansermin, S. Sharma, S. Soleimannejad, K. Sharma, A. Callahan, C. Brown, P. A. Umina, T. N. Kristensen and A. A. Hoffmann,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  120:e2217278120. 2023.
Endosymbiotic bacteria that live inside the cells of insects are typically only transmitted maternally and can spread by increasing host fitness and/or modifying reproduction in sexual hosts. Transinfections of Wolbachia endosymbionts are now being used to introduce useful ...

A male-killing Wolbachia endosymbiont is concealed by another endosymbiont and a nuclear suppressor

Tags: , , ,
K. M. Richardson, P. A. Ross, B. S. Cooper, W. R. Conner, T. Schmidt and A. A. Hoffmann,  PLoS Biol,  21:e3001879. 2023.
Bacteria that live inside the cells of insect hosts (endosymbionts) can alter the reproduction of their hosts, including the killing of male offspring (male killing, MK). MK has only been described in a few insects, but this may reflect challenges in detecting MK rather than its ...

First report of natural Wolbachia infections in mosquitoes from Cuba

Tags: , , ,
A. Ruiz, G. Gutiérrez-Bugallo, R. Rodríguez-Roche, L. Pérez, R. González-Broche, L. A. Piedra, L. C. Martínez, Z. Menéndez, A. Vega-Rúa and J. A. Bisset,  Acta Tropica,  242:106891. 2023.
Mosquitoes are extensively responsible for the transmission of pathogens. Novel strategies using Wolbachia could transform that scenario, since these bacteria manipulate mosquito reproduction, and can confer a pathogen transmission-blocking phenotype in culicids. Here, we ...

Wbm0076, a candidate effector protein of the Wolbachia endosymbiont of Brugia malayi, disrupts eukaryotic actin dynamics

Tags: ,
M. K. Mills, L. G. McCabe, E. M. Rodrigue, K. F. Lechtreck and V. J. Starai,  PLoS Pathogens,  19:e1010777. 2023.
Brugia malayi, a parasitic roundworm of humans, is colonized by the obligate intracellular bacterium, Wolbachia pipientis. The symbiosis between this nematode and bacterium is essential for nematode reproduction and long-term survival in a human host. Therefore, identifying ...

Engineered symbiotic bacteria interfering Nosema redox system inhibit microsporidia parasitism in honeybees

Tags: ,
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. ...

Cell-based analysis reveals that sex-determining gene signals in Ostrinia are pivotally changed by male-killing Wolbachia

Tags: , ,
B. Herran, T. N. Sugimoto, K. Watanabe, S. Imanishi, T. Tsuchida, T. Matsuo, Y. Ishikawa and D. Kageyama,  PNAS Nexus,  pgac293. 2022.
Wolbachia, a maternally transmitted bacterium, shows male-killing, an adaptive phenotype for cytoplasmic elements, in various arthropod species during the early developmental stages. In lepidopteran insects, lethality of males is accounted for by improper dosage compensation in ...

Tolerance-conferring defensive symbionts and the evolution of parasite virulence

Tags: , , ,
C. A. Smith and B. Ashby,  bioRxiv,  2022.
Defensive symbionts in the host microbiome can confer protection from infection or reduce the harms of being infected by a parasite. Defensive symbionts are therefore promising agents of biocontrol that could be used to control or ameliorate the impact of infectious diseases. ...

A comprehensive overview of the existing microbial symbionts in mosquito vectors: An important tool for impairing pathogentransmission

Tags: , , ,
V. Vandana, M. P. Kona, J. Kumar, O. P. Singh and K. C. Pandey,  Experimental Parasitology,  243. 2022.
The emergence of drug-resistant parasites and/or insecticide-resistant mosquito vectors necessitates developing alternative tools that either supplement or replace the conventional malaria control strategies. Trans-infecting the mosquito vector with symbionts that can either ...

A Wolbachia factor for male killing in lepidopteran insects

Tags: , ,
S. Katsuma, K. Hirota, N. Matsuda-Imai, T. Fukui, T. Muro, K. Nishino, H. Kosako, K. Shoji, H. Takanashi, T. Fujii, S.-i. Arimura and T. Kiuchi,  Nature Communications,  13:6764. 2022.
Bacterial symbionts, such as Wolbachia species, can manipulate the sexual development and reproduction of their insect hosts. For example, Wolbachia infection induces male-specific death in the Asian corn borer Ostrinia furnacalis by targeting the host factor Masculinizer (Masc), ...

Wolbachia inhibits ovarian formation and increases blood feeding rate in female Aedes aegypti

Tags: , ,
M.-J. Lau, P. A. Ross, N. M. Endersby-Harshman, Q. Yang and A. A. Hoffmann,  PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases,  16:e0010913. 2022.
Author summary Wolbachia bacteria reduce the transmission of dengue and other arboviruses transmitted by their mosquito hosts once they have invaded host populations. This invasion process is being undertaken in Aedes aegypti mosquito populations throughout the world but can be ...

Combining transgenesis with paratransgenesis to fight malaria

Tags: , , , , ,
W. Huang, J. Vega-Rodriguez, C. Kizito, S.-J. Cha and M. Jacobs-Lorena,  eLife,  11:e77584. 2022.
Malaria is among the deadliest infectious diseases, and Plasmodium, the causative agent, needs to complete a complex development cycle in its vector mosquito for transmission to occur. Two promising strategies to curb transmission are transgenesis, consisting of genetically ...

Hidden endosymbionts: A male-killer concealed by another endosymbiont and a nuclear suppressor

Tags: , , ,
K. M. Richardson, P. A. Ross, B. S. Cooper, W. R. Conner, T. Schmidt and A. A. Hoffmann,  bioRxiv,  2022.10.19.512817. 2022.
Maternally transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria that cause male killing (MK) have only been described from a few insects, but this may reflect challenges in their detection rather than a rarity of MK. Here we identify MK Wolbachia in populations of Drosophila pseudotakahashii, ...

An evaluation of fusion partner proteins for paratransgenesis in Asaia bogorensis

Tags: , , ,
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 ...

Bacterial supergroup-specific “cost” of Wolbachia infections in Nasonia vitripennis

Tags: , ,
A. Tiwary, R. Babu, R. Sen and R. Raychoudhury,  Ecology and Evolution,  2022.
Abstract The maternally inherited endosymbiont, Wolbachia, is known to alter the reproductive biology of its arthropod hosts for its own benefit and can induce both positive and negative fitness effects in many hosts. Here, we describe the effects of the maintenance of two ...

Rational engineering of a synthetic insect-bacterial mutualism

Tags: , ,
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 ...

Biologists engineered insect-bacterial mutualism in ‘bucket list’ achievement

Tags: , ,
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. ...

Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus microbiome/virome: new strategies for controlling arboviral transmission?

Tags: , , ,
M. Gómez, D. Martinez, M. Muñoz and J. D. Ramírez,  Parasites and Vectors,  15:287. 2022.
Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the main vectors of highly pathogenic viruses for humans, such as dengue (DENV), chikungunya (CHIKV), and Zika (ZIKV), which cause febrile, hemorrhagic, and neurological diseases and remain a major threat to global public health. The high ...

Sexual transmission of Anopheles gambiae densovirus (AgDNV) leads to disseminated infection in mated females

Tags: , , ,
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 ...

Male-killing-associated bacteriophage WO identified from comparisons of Wolbachia endosymbionts of Homona magnanima

Tags: , , , ,
H. Arai, H. Anbutsu, Y. Nishikawa, M. Kogawa, K. Ishii, M. Hosokawa, S.-R. Lin, M. Ueda, M. Nakai, Y. Kunimi, T. Harumoto, D. Kageyama, H. Takeyama and M. N. Inoue,  bioRxiv,  2022.
The origin and mechanism of male-killing, an advantageous strategy employed by maternally transmitted symbionts such as Wolbachia, remain unclear. We compared genomes of four Wolbachia strains derived from Homona magnanima, a male-killing strain wHm-t (1.5 Mb), and three ...

Wolbachia interacts with the microbiome to shape fitness-associated traits during seasonal adaptation in Drosophila melanogaster

Tags: , , , ,
L. P. Henry, M. Fernandez, S. Wolf and J. Ayroles,  bioRxiv,  2022.05.31.494239. 2022.
The microbiome contributes to many different host traits, but its role in host adaptation remains enigmatic. The fitness benefits of the microbiome often depend on ecological conditions, but fluctuations in both the microbiome and environment modulate these fitness benefits. ...

New weapons to fight malaria transmission: A historical view

Tags: , , ,
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 ...

Wolbachia endosymbionts in two Anopheles species indicates independent acquisitions and lack of prophage elements

Tags: , , , ,
S. Quek, L. Cerdeira, C. L. Jeffries, S. Tomlinson, T. Walker, G. L. Hughes and E. Heinz,  Microbial Genomics,  8. 2022.
Wolbachia is a genus of obligate bacterial endosymbionts that infect a diverse range of arthropod species as well as filarial nematodes, with its single described species, Wolbachia pipientis, divided into several ‘supergroups’ based on multilocus sequence typing. Wolbachia ...

Overview of paratransgenesis as a strategy to control pathogen transmission by insect vectors

Tags: , ,
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 ...

Mathematical modelling to assess the feasibility of Wolbachia in malaria vector biocontrol

Tags: , , ,
S. Andreychuk and L. Yakob,  Journal of Theoretical Biology,  542. 2022.
Releasing mosquitoes transinfected with the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia is a novel strategy for interrupting vector-borne pathogen transmission. Following its success in controlling arboviruses spread by Aedes aegypti, this technology is being adapted for anopheline malaria ...

Symbionts and gene drive: two strategies to combat vector-borne disease

Tags: , , , , ,
G.-H. Wang, J. Du, C. Y. Chu, M. Madhav, G. L. Hughes and J. Champer,  Trends in Genetics,  2022.
Mosquitoes bring global health problems by transmitting parasites and viruses such as malaria and dengue. Unfortunately, current insecticide-based control strategies are only moderately effective because of high cost and resistance. Thus, scalable, sustainable, and cost-effective ...

Wolbachia Impacts Anaplasma Infection in Ixodes scapularis Tick Cells

Tags: , , ,
K. M. Skinner, J. Underwood, A. Ghosh, A. S. Oliva Chavez and C. L. Brelsfoard,  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,  19. 2022.
The specific interactions of members of tick bacterial microbiota and their effects on pathogen transmission remains relatively unexplored. Here, we introduced a novel Wolbachia infection type into Ixodes scapularis tick cells and examined the antipathogenic effects on the ...

Quality over quantity: unraveling the contributions to cytoplasmic incompatibility caused by two coinfecting Cardinium symbionts

Tags: , ,
M. R. Doremus, C. M. Stouthamer, S. E. Kelly, S. Schmitz-Esser and M. S. Hunter,  Heredity,  2022.
Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is a common form of reproductive sabotage caused by maternally inherited bacterial symbionts of arthropods. CI is a two-step manipulation: first, the symbiont modifies sperm in male hosts which results in the death of fertilized, uninfected ...

Recently introduced Wolbachia reduces bacterial species richness and reshapes bacterial community structure in Nilaparvata lugens

Tags: , ,
T.-P. Li, C.-Y. Zhou, J.-T. Gong, Z. Xi and X.-Y. Hong,  Pest Management Science,  2022.
BACKGROUND Wolbachia has been developed as an effective tool to suppress insect pests and arbovirus transmission. Recently, the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, a serious agricultural pest, has been successfully transinfected with Wolbachia strain wStri from Laodelphax ...

Wolbachia reduces virus infection in a natural population of Drosophila

Tags: , , , , ,
R. Cogni, S. D. Ding, A. C. Pimentel, J. P. Day and F. M. Jiggins,  Communications Biology,  4:1327. 2021.
Wolbachia is a maternally transmitted bacterial symbiont that is estimated to infect approximately half of arthropod species. In the laboratory it can increase the resistance of insects to viral infection, but its effect on viruses in nature is unknown. Here we report that in a ...

Positive selection and horizontal gene transfer in the genome of a male-killing Wolbachia

Tags: , ,
T. Hill, R. L. Unckless and J. I. Perlmutter,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  2021.
Wolbachia are a genus of widespread bacterial endosymbionts in which some strains can hijack or manipulate arthropod host reproduction. Male killing is one such manipulation in which these maternally transmitted bacteria benefit surviving daughters in part by removing competition ...

Microsporidia MB is found predominantly associated with Anopheles gambiae s.s and Anopheles coluzzii in Ghana

Tags: ,
J. Akorli, E. A. Akorli, S. N. A. Tetteh, G. K. Amlalo, M. Opoku, R. Pwalia, M. Adimazoya, D. Atibilla, S. Pi-Bansa, J. Chabi and S. K. Dadzie,  Scientific Reports,  11:5. 2021.
A vertically transmitted microsporidian, Microsporidia MB, with the ability to disrupt Plasmodium development was reported in Anopheles arabiensis from Kenya, East Africa. To demonstrate its range of incidence, archived DNA samples from 7575 Anopheles mosquitoes collected from ...

Two newly introduced Wolbachia endosymbionts induce cell host differences in competitiveness and metabolic responses

Tags: , , , ,
T. P. Li, S. S. Zha, C. Y. Zhou, X. Xia, A. A. Hoffmann and X. Y. Hong,  Appl Environ Microbiol,  Aem0147921. 2021.
Wolbachia endosymbionts can induce multiple reproductive manipulations in their hosts, with cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) being one of the most common manipulations. The important agricultural pests, white-backed planthopper (Sogatella furcifera) and brown planthopper ...

Breakthrough in non-GMO malaria control

Tags: , , , ,
C. Robinson and J. Matthews,  GM Watch,  2021.
A just-published study carried out in a high-security lab claims to show that a CRISPR gene drive (a way of forcing a heritable genetic modification through a whole species or population) can crash populations of malaria-spreading mosquitoes. But why crash mosquito populations ...

Horizontal Transmission of the Symbiont Microsporidia MB in Anopheles arabiensis

Tags: , , , ,
G. Nattoh, T. Maina, E. E. Makhulu, L. Mbaisi, E. Mararo, F. G. Otieno, T. Bukhari, T. O. Onchuru, E. Teal, J. Paredes, J. L. Bargul, D. M. Mburu, E. A. Onyango, G. Magoma, S. P. Sinkins and J. K. Herren,  Frontiers in Microbiology,  12. 2021.
The recently discovered Anopheles symbiont, Microsporidia MB, has a strong malaria transmission-blocking phenotype in Anopheles arabiensis, the predominant Anopheles gambiae species complex member in many active transmission areas in eastern Africa. The ability of Microsporidia ...

A natural symbiotic bacterium drives mosquito refractoriness to Plasmodium infection via secretion of an antimalarial lipase

Tags: , , ,
H. Gao, L. Bai, Y. M. Jiang, W. Huang, L. L. Wang, S. G. Li, G. D. Zhu, D. Q. Wang, Z. H. Huang, X. S. Li, J. Cao, L. B. Jiang, M. Jacobs-Lorena, S. Zhan and S. B. Wang,  Nature Microbiology,  25. 2021.
The stalling global progress in the fight against malaria prompts the urgent need to develop new intervention strategies. Whilst engineered symbiotic bacteria have been shown to confer mosquito resistance to parasite infection, a major challenge for field implementation is to ...

Engineering a Culturable Serratia symbiotica Strain for Aphid Paratransgenesis

Tags:
K. M. Elston, J. Perreau, G. P. Maeda, N. A. Moran and J. E. Barrick,  Applied Environmental Microbiology,  87. 2020.
Aphids are global agricultural pests and important models for bacterial symbiosis. To date, none of the native symbionts of aphids have been genetically manipulated, which limits our understanding of how they interact with their hosts. Serratia symbiotica CWBI-2.3(T) is a ...

Microbiome Innovation in Agriculture: Development of Microbial Based Tools for Insect Pest Management

Tags: , , ,
M. Qadri, S. Short, K. Gast, J. Hernandez and A. C.-N. Wong,  Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems,  4. 2020.
This review emphasizes the potential and use of microbes in sustainable insect pest management. We first review the diverse insect traits shaped by insect-microbe associations that span nutrition, immunity, ecological interactions with natural enemy, insecticide resistance, and ...

The Evolving Arsenal Against Mosquito-Born Diseases

Tags: , , , ,
J. Smith,  Labiotech.eu,  2020.
As the global climate continues to warm, disease-spreading mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti are expected to establish themselves in the US and Europe.

Prospects and Pitfalls: Next-Generation Tools to Control Mosquito-Transmitted Disease

Tags: , , , ,
E. P. Caragata, S. Dong, Y. Dong, M. L. Simões, C. V. Tikhe and G. Dimopoulos,  Annual Review of Microbiology,  74:455-475. 2020.
A diverse array of next-generation tools has been designed to eliminate mosquito populations or to replace them with mosquitoes that are less capable of transmitting key pathogens.

Engineered symbionts activate honey bee immunity and limit pathogens

Tags: , ,
P. Leonard Sean, J. E. Powell, J. Perutka, P. Geng, C. Heckmann Luke, D. Horak Richard, W. Davies Bryan, D. Ellington Andrew, E. Barrick Jeffrey and A. Moran Nancy,  Science,  367:573-576. 2020.
Honey bees are essential pollinators threatened by colony losses linked to the spread of parasites and pathogens. Here, we report a new approach for manipulating bee gene expression and protecting bee health. We engineered a symbiotic bee gut bacterium, Snodgrassella alvi, to ...

A bacterial gene-drive system efficiently edits and inactivates a high copy number antibiotic resistance locus

Tags: ,
Valderrama, J. A., S. S. Kulkarni, V. Nizet and E. Bier,  Nature Communications,  10:5726. 2019.
Gene-drive systems in diploid organisms bias the inheritance of one allele over another. CRISPR-based gene-drive expresses a guide RNA (gRNA) into the genome at the site where the gRNA directs Cas9-mediated cleavage. In the presence of Cas9, the gRNA cassette and any linked cargo ...

New CRISPR system efficiently battles antibiotic resistance

Tags: ,
Black, Samantha,  The Science Advisory Board,  2019.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego have developed a brand new CRISPR-based gene-drive system that dramatically increases the efficiency of inactivation of genes responsible for antibiotic resistance. The new system is detailed on December 16 in Nature ...

Antibiotic resistance hoops countered by gene drive feedback loops

Tags: ,
GEN,  Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News,  2019.
Where a gene drive that cuts and destroys plasmids may fail, a gene drive that cuts, pastes, and copies plasmids may succeed. The “where,” in this case, is an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that carries multiple copies of an antibiotic-resistance gene. That is, the target ...

Tackling antibiotic resistance head-on with CRISPR

Tags: ,
Thomas, L.,  News Medical Life Sciences,  2019.
With modern advances in genetic engineering occurring almost every day, the latest discovery concerns antibiotic resistance. Using the powerful gene editor CRISPR, scientists reported the development of a gene-drive system that is 100 times as efficient as other current systems ...

Predicting the spatial dynamics of Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti arbovirus vector populations in heterogeneous landscapes

Tags: , , ,
Hancock, PAR, S. A.; Koenraadt, C. J. M.; Scott, T. W.; Hoffmann, A. A.; Godfray, H. C. J.,  Journal of Applied Ecology,  56:1674-1686. 2019.
A promising strategy for reducing the transmission of dengue and other arboviral human diseases by Aedes aegypti mosquito vector populations involves field introductions of the endosymbiotic bacteria Wolbachia. Wolbachia infections inhibit viral transmission by the mosquito, and ...

Design, execution, and analysis of CRISPR-Cas9-based deletions and genetic interaction networks in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans

Tags: , ,
Halder, VP, C. B. M.; Chavez, A.; Shapiro, R. S.,  Nature Protocols,  14:955-975. 2019.
The study of fungal pathogens is of immediate importance, yet progress is hindered by the technical challenges of genetic manipulation. For Candida species, their inability to maintain plasmids, unusual codon usage, and inefficient homologous recombination are among the obstacles ...

CRISPR in Parasitology: Not Exactly Cut and Dried!

Tags: , , , ,
Bryant, JMB, S.; Glover, L.; Hutchinson, S.; Rachidi, N.,  Trends in Parasitology,  35:409-422. 2019.
CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been developing rapidly in the field of parasitology, allowing for the dissection of molecular processes with unprecedented efficiency. Optimization and implementation of a new technology like CRISPR, especially in nonmodel organisms, requires ...

Two-By-One model of cytoplasmic incompatibility: Synthetic recapitulation by transgenic expression of cifA and cifB in Drosophila

Tags: , , , ,
Shropshire, JDB, S. R.,  PLOS Genetics,  15:e1008221. 2019.
Wolbachia are maternally inherited bacteria that infect arthropod species worldwide and are deployed in vector control to curb arboviral spread using cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). CI kills embryos when an infected male mates with an uninfected female, but the lethality is ...

Engineered integrative and conjugative elements for efficient and inducible DNA transfer to undomesticated bacteria

Tags: , , ,
Brophy, JANT, Alexander J.; Adams, Bryn L.; Renberg, Rebecca L.; Stratis-Cullum, Dimitra N.; Grossman, Alan D.; Voigt, Christopher A.,  Nature Microbiology,  3:1043-1053. 2018.
Engineering microorganisms to promote human or plant health will require manipulation of robust bacteria that are capable of surviving in harsh, competitive environments. Genetic engineering of undomesticated bacteria can be limited by an inability to transfer DNA into the cell. ...

Rapid comeback of males: evolution of male-killer suppression in a green lacewing population

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Hayashi, MN, M.; Kageyama, D.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  285:6. 2018.
Evolutionary theory predicts that the spread of cytoplasmic sex ratio distorters leads to the evolution of host nuclear suppressors, although there are extremely few empirical observations of this phenomenon. Here, we demonstrate that a nuclear suppressor of a cytoplasmic male ...

Development of a multi-locus CRISPR gene drive system in budding yeast

Tags: , , , ,
Yan, YF, Gregory C.,  Scientific reports,  8:17277-17277. 2018.
The discovery of CRISPR/Cas gene editing has allowed for major advances in many biomedical disciplines and basic research. One arrangement of this biotechnology, a nuclease-based gene drive, can rapidly deliver a genetic element through a given population and studies in fungi and ...

A transatlantic perspective on 20 emerging issues in biological engineering

Tags: , , , , ,
Wintle, BCB, C. R.; Rhodes, C.; Molloy, J. C.; Millett, P.; Adam, L.; Breitling, R.; Carlson, R.; Casagrande, R.; Dando, M.; Doubleday, R.; Drexler, E.; Edwards, B.; Ellis, T.; Evans, N. G.; Hammond, R.; Haseloff, J.; Kahl, L.; Kuiken, T.; Lichman, B. R.; Matthewman, C. A.; Napier, J. A.; OhEigeartaigh, S. S.; Patron, N. J.; Perello, E.; Shapira, P.; Tait, J.; Takano, E.; Sutherland, W. J.,  eLife,  6:21. 2017.
Advances in biological engineering are likely to have substantial impacts on global society. To explore these potential impacts we ran a horizon scanning exercise to capture a range of perspectives on the opportunities and risks presented by biological engineering. We first ...

Concept and history of genetic control

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Scott, M. J. and Benedict, M. Q.,  Genetic Control of Malaria and Dengue,  2:31-54. 2016.
Genetic control of insects is an established method, mainly for insects that are important crop and veterinary pests such as medflies and screwworm. Efforts to use the same technologies against insects of medical importance, especially mosquitoes, have had limited success. The ...