Potential bacterial biomarkers for insect colonization in forensic cases: preliminary quantitative data on Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica and Ignatzschineria indica dynamics

Abstract For the last decades, forensic microbiology became an emerging complementary tool in criminalistics. Although the insect-microbe interactions regarding pathogen transmission were extensively studied, only scarce information is available on bacterial transfer from necrophagous insects to host tissues. Our data provides the first report on the occurrence of Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica and Ignatzschineria indica in Lucilia illustris Meigen, 1826 (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and the quantitative dynamics of the two bacterial species along the insect life-stages and transfer to beef and pork host tissues using qPCR gyrase b specific primers. The content of both bacterial species increased along the insect life stages. W. chitiniclastica was detected in all developmental stages independent of the feeding substrate. I. indica was measurable with 102 gene copies ng−1 DNA threshold starting from the third instar larvae when feeding on beef, and from the egg stage with a 102× higher representation when using the pork substrate. The transfer of bacterial species to both tissues occurred after 3 colonization days except for I. indica that was visible in beef liver only during day 5. Considering the utilization of pork tissues as human analogues, these quantitative microbial dynamics data provides first insect-specific bacterial candidates as potential colonization biomarkers in forensic investigations.

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Understanding the host-microbe interactions using metabolic modeling

Microbiome ◽

10.1186/s40168-020-00955-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jack Jansma ◽

Sahar El Aidy

Keyword(s):

Human Health ◽

Flux Balance Analysis ◽

Bacterial Species ◽

Flux Balance ◽

Interaction Field ◽

In Silico Simulation ◽

Balance Analysis ◽

Microbe Interactions ◽

Host Microbe Interactions ◽

Genome Scale

AbstractThe human gut harbors an enormous number of symbiotic microbes, which is vital for human health. However, interactions within the complex microbiota community and between the microbiota and its host are challenging to elucidate, limiting development in the treatment for a variety of diseases associated with microbiota dysbiosis. Using in silico simulation methods based on flux balance analysis, those interactions can be better investigated. Flux balance analysis uses an annotated genome-scale reconstruction of a metabolic network to determine the distribution of metabolic fluxes that represent the complete metabolism of a bacterium in a certain metabolic environment such as the gut. Simulation of a set of bacterial species in a shared metabolic environment can enable the study of the effect of numerous perturbations, such as dietary changes or addition of a probiotic species in a personalized manner. This review aims to introduce to experimental biologists the possible applications of flux balance analysis in the host-microbiota interaction field and discusses its potential use to improve human health.

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Temporal Dynamics of ‘Ca. Phytoplasma mali’ Load in the Insect Vector Cacopsylla melanoneura

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11090592 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 592

Author(s):

Valentina Candian ◽

Monia Monti ◽

Rosemarie Tedeschi

Keyword(s):

Host Plants ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Vector Competence ◽

Insect Vector ◽

Life Stages ◽

Candidatus Phytoplasma Mali ◽

High Infection ◽

Cacopsylla Melanoneura

The transmission of phytoplasmas is the result of an intricate interplay involving pathogens, insect vectors and host plants. Knowledge of the vector’s competence during its lifespan allows us to define more sustainable well-timed control strategies targeted towards the most worrisome life stages. We investigated the temporal dynamics of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma mali’ load in Cacopsylla melanoneura in the different developmental stages in Northwest Italy. The phytoplasma load in the vector was evaluated in overwintering adults, nymphs and newly emerged adults after different acquisition access periods. Moreover, we followed the multiplication of the phytoplasma during the aestivation and the overwintering period on conifers. Our results confirmed the ability of remigrants to retain the phytoplasma until the end of winter. We also highlighted the high acquisition efficiency and vector competence, based on phytoplasma load, of nymphs and newly emerged adults. Therefore, particular attention should be paid to the management of overwintered C. melanoneura as soon as they return to the orchards, but also to newly emerged adults, particularly in orchards with a high infection rate and when the migration to conifers is delayed.

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LARVAE OF NEOTROMBICULA TALMIENSIS (SCHLUGER, 1955) (ACARIFORMES, TROMBICULIDAE) AND THEIR FEATURES PARASITISM ON NATURAL HOSTS

CONCEPTUAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS OF INVERTEBRATE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND BIOLOGICAL EDUCATION ◽

10.17223/978-5-94621-931-0-2020-84 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

A.B. Shatrov ◽

Keyword(s):

Feeding Mode ◽

Bank Voles ◽

Pale Pink ◽

Highly Effective ◽

Natural Hosts ◽

Siberian Chipmunk ◽

Feeding Substrate ◽

Species Specific ◽

Host Tissues

Parasitengonina mites being a highly diverse and specialized phyletic lineage of the higher Acariformes, possess small and simply organized larvae. These larvae show a highly effective feeding mode of the proteinaceous feeding substrate consisting of the pre-oral digested host tissues. This capability is a result of the stylostome formation and allows larvae to overcome easily a high ontogenetic threshold between the larval organization and that of post-larval phases. Larvae of N. talmiensis evolve an identically organized pale-pink stylostome during feeding on both bank voles and Siberian chipmunk that confirm a hypothesis of the genus- or even species-specific stylostome organization.

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Cnidome and Morphological Features of Pelagia noctiluca (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) Throughout the Different Life Cycle Stages

Frontiers in Marine Science ◽

10.3389/fmars.2021.714503 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Ainara Ballesteros ◽

Carina Östman ◽

Andreu Santín ◽

Macarena Marambio ◽

Mridvika Narda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Later Life ◽

Life Stages ◽

Accurate Identification ◽

Early Stages ◽

Pelagia Noctiluca ◽

Life Cycle Stages ◽

Advanced Stages ◽

Stage 1

Pelagia noctiluca is considered the most important jellyfish in the Mediterranean Sea, due to its abundance and the severity of its stings. Despite its importance in marine ecosystems and the health problems caused by its massive arrival in coastal areas, little is known about its early life stages and its cnidome has never been described. This study of the morphological and anatomical features throughout the life cycle identifies four early stages: two ephyra and two metaephyra stages. Ephyra stage 1, newly developed from a planula, has no velar canals, gastric filaments or nematocyst batteries. Ephyra stage 2, has velar canals, a cruciform-shaped manubrium and gastric filaments. Metaephyra stage 3 has eight tentacle buds and nematocyst clusters for the first time. Lastly, in metaephyra stage 4, the eight primary tentacles grow nearly simultaneously, with no secondary tentacles. Complete nematocyst battery patterns gradually develop throughout the later life stages. Four nematocyst types are identified: a-isorhiza, A-isorhiza, O-isorhiza and eurytele. Of these, a-isorhiza and eurytele are the most important throughout the entire life cycle, while A-isorhiza and O-isorhiza have a more important role in advanced stages. All nematocysts show a positive correlation between increasing capsule volumes and increasing body diameter of the ephyrae, metaephyrae, young medusae and adult medusae. In the early stages, the volumes of euryteles in the gastric filaments are larger than those in the exumbrella, indicating that the capsule volume is critical in the absence of marginal tentacles, specialized for feeding. This study provides updated information, the most extensive description to date, including high-resolution photographs and schematic drawings of all the developmental stages in the life cycle of P. noctiluca. Additionally, the first cnidome characterization is provided for each stage to facilitate accurate identification of this species when collected in the water column, and to raise awareness of the potential for human envenomation.

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Comparative Microbiota Composition Across Developmental Stages of Natural and Laboratory-Reared Chironomus circumdatus Populations From India

Frontiers in Microbiology ◽

10.3389/fmicb.2021.746830 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Sivan Laviad-Shitrit ◽

Rotem Sela ◽

Yehonatan Sharaby ◽

Leena Thorat ◽

Bimalendu B. Nath ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Developmental Stages ◽

Laboratory Culture ◽

Sampling Location ◽

Scaling Analysis ◽

Life Stages ◽

Microbiota Composition ◽

Aquatic Life ◽

Egg Masses ◽

Microbial Profile ◽

Field Environment

Chironomids are aquatic insects that undergo a complete metamorphosis of four life stages. Here we studied, for the first time, the microbiota composition of Chironomus circumdatus, a tropical midge species, both from the Mula and Mutha Rivers in Pune, India and as a laboratory-reared culture. We generated a comparative microbial profile of the eggs, larvae and pupae, the three aquatic life stages of C. circumdatus. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis (NMDS) demonstrated that the developmental stage had a more prominent effect on the microbiota composition compared to the sampling location. Notably, the microbiota composition of the egg masses from the different sampling points clustered together and differed from laboratory culture larvae. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in all the environmental and laboratory-reared egg masses and pupal samples, and in the laboratory-reared larvae, while Fusobacteria was the dominant phylum in the larvae collected from the field environment. The most abundant genera were Cetobacterium, Aeromonas, Dysgonomonas, Vibrio, and Flavobacterium. The ten amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) that most significantly contributed to differences in microbiota composition between the three sampled locations were: Burkholderiaceae (ASVs 04 and 37), C39 (Rhodocyclaceae, ASV 14), Vibrio (ASV 07), Arcobacter (ASV 21), Sphaerotilus (ASV 22), Bacteroidia (ASVs 12 and 28), Flavobacterium (ASV 29), and Gottschalkia (ASV 10). No significant differences were found in the microbial richness (Chao1) or diversity (Shannon H’) of the three sampled locations. In contrast, significant differences were found between the microbial richness of the three life stages. Studying the microbiota of this Chironomus species may contribute to a better understanding of the association of C. circumdatus and its microbial inhabitants.

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Pathways for urea production during early life of an air-breathing teleost, the African catfish Clarias gariepinus Burchell

Journal of Experimental Biology ◽

10.1242/jeb.204.12.2155 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 204 (12) ◽

pp. 2155-2165 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Bendik F. Terjesen ◽

Terry D. Chadwick ◽

Johan A. J. Verreth ◽

Ivar Rønnestad ◽

Patricia A. Wright

Keyword(s):

Early Development ◽

Early Life ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Clarias Gariepinus ◽

African Catfish ◽

Life Stages ◽

Carbamoyl Phosphate ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Air Breathing ◽

Urea Production

SUMMARY Embryos and larvae of the African catfish Clarias gariepinus excrete significant quantities of urea. The present study focused on the potential urea-generating pathways during early development of this teleost; uricolysis, argininolysis and the ornithine–urea cycle (OUC). Uricase, allantoinase, allantoicase and ureidoglycollate lyase of the uricolytic pathway were expressed in all early life stages and in adult liver of C. gariepinus. Uricase activity increased in starved larvae compared with yolk-sac larvae. The key regulatory enzyme of the teleost OUC, carbamoyl phosphate synthetase III (CPSase III), was expressed predominantly in muscle of developing C. gariepinus larvae and showed negligible activity in the absence of its allosteric effector N-acetyl-l-glutamate. CPSase III and ornithine carbamoyl transferase activities increased in fed larvae compared with starved larvae. In contrast to the early developmental stages, adult C. gariepinus expressed only low and variable levels of CPSase III, suggesting that, under the experimental conditions employed, OUC expression is influenced by developmental stage in this species. The data indicate that early C. gariepinus life stages express the enzymes necessary for urea production by uricolysis, argininolysis and the OUC, and this may explain why urea tissue levels and urea excretion rates are substantial during the early development of this air-breathing teleost.

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Evaluation of Resistance to the Beech Scale Insect (Cryptococcus fagisuga) and Propagation of American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) by Grafting

Silvae Genetica ◽

10.1515/sg-2007-0025 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 56 (1-6) ◽

pp. 163-169 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. Ramirez ◽

J. Loo ◽

M. J. Krasowski

Keyword(s):

Developmental Stages ◽

Scale Insect ◽

Fagus Grandifolia ◽

Life Stages ◽

Total Resistance ◽

Beech Bark Disease ◽

American Beech ◽

Insect Colonies ◽

Cryptococcus Fagisuga

Abstract Scions collected from diseased trees and from those without symptoms of beech bark disease (BBD) were cleft-grafted in 2003 and 2004 onto rootstock of unknown resistance to BBD. Grafting success varied among genotypes and year (30% in 2003 and 12% in 2004), and improved with increasing rootstock diameter. Successful grafts were used to test resistance to the beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga (the initiating agent of BBD) by introducing eggs onto the bark of scions and allowing time for the emergence of all developmental stages of the insects. Significantly fewer insects colonized scions collected from putatively resistant trees than those collected from diseased trees. In some cases, where egg placement overlapped a portion of the rootstock, insect colonies developed on the rootstock but not on the scion collected from resistant trees. Occasionally, scions from putatively resistant trees were colonized, whereas some of those from diseased trees were not. When scions from putatively resistant trees were heavily colonized, only adult insects were present and no eggs or other life stages of the insect were found. The findings indicate that the extent of resistance to the scale insect (hence to BBD) ranges from partial to total resistance.

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Expression of heat shock proteins 27 and 72 correlates with specific commensal microbes in different regions of porcine gastrointestinal tract

AJP Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpgi.00299.2013 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 306 (12) ◽

pp. G1033-G1041 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Hao-Yu Liu ◽

Johan Dicksved ◽

Torbjörn Lundh ◽

Jan Erik Lindberg

Keyword(s):

Immune System ◽

Heat Shock ◽

Heat Shock Proteins ◽

Bacterial Species ◽

Host Immune System ◽

Gi Tract ◽

Microbe Interactions ◽

Cell Type Specific ◽

Host Microbe Interactions ◽

Shock Proteins

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of mammals is inhabited by trillions of microorganisms, resulting in exceedingly complex networking. The interaction between distinct bacterial species and the host immune system is essential in maintaining homeostasis in the gut ecosystem. For instance, the gut commensal microbiota dictates intestinal mucosa maturation and its abundant immune components, such as cytoprotective heat shock proteins (HSP). Here we examined physiological expression of HSP in the normal porcine GI tract and found it to be gut region- and cell type-specific in response to dietary components, microbes, and microbial metabolites to which the mucosa surface is exposed. Correlations between HSP72 expression and ileal Lactobacillus spp. and colonic clostridia species, and between HSP27 expression and uronic acid ingestion, were important interplays identified here. Thus this study provides novel insights into host-microbe interactions shaping the immune system that are modifiable by dietary regime.

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Navigating infection risk during oviposition and larval foraging in a holometabolous insect

10.1101/171132 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathon A. Siva-Jothy ◽

Katy M. Monteith ◽

Pedro F. Vale

Keyword(s):

Larval Stage ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Adult Stage ◽

Life Stages ◽

Holometabolous Insect ◽

Fitness Consequences ◽

Risk Of Exposure ◽

Selection For ◽

Complete Metamorphosis ◽

Oviposition Sites

AbstractDeciding where to eat and raise offspring carries important fitness consequences for all animals, especially if foraging, feeding and reproduction increase the risk of exposure to pathogens. In insects with complete metamorphosis, foraging occurs mainly during the larval stage, while oviposition decisions are taken by adult-stage females. Selection for infection avoidance behaviours may therefore be developmentally uncoupled. Using a combination of experimental infections and behavioural choice assays, here we tested if Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies avoid potentially infectious environments at distinct developmental stages. When given conspecific fly carcasses as a food source, larval-stage flies did not discriminate between carcasses that were clean or infected with the pathogenic Drosophila C Virus (DCV), even though scavenging was a viable route of DCV transmission. Adult females however, discriminated between different oviposition sites, laying more eggs near a clean rather than an infectious carcass if they were healthy; DCV-infected females did not discriminate between the two environments. While potentially risky, laying eggs near potentially infectious carcasses was always preferred to sites containing only fly medium. Our findings suggest that infection avoidance can play an important role in how mothers provision their offspring, and underline the need to consider infection avoidance behaviours at multiple life-stages.

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Structure and Dynamics of the Gut Bacterial Community Across the Developmental Stages of the Coffee Berry Borer, Hypothenemus hampei

Frontiers in Microbiology ◽

10.3389/fmicb.2021.639868 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Fernan Santiago Mejía-Alvarado ◽

Thaura Ghneim-Herrera ◽

Carmenza E. Góngora ◽

Pablo Benavides ◽

Lucio Navarro-Escalante

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Bacterial Community ◽

Gut Microbiota ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Life Stage ◽

Insect Control ◽

Life Stages ◽

Hypothenemus Hampei ◽

Coffee Berry ◽

Structure And Dynamics

The coffee berry borer (CBB); Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is widely recognized as the major insect pest of coffee crops. Like many other arthropods, CBB harbors numerous bacteria species that may have important physiological roles in host nutrition, detoxification, immunity and protection. To date, the structure and dynamics of the gut-associated bacterial community across the CBB life cycle is not yet well understood. A better understanding of the complex relationship between CBB and its bacterial companions may provide new opportunities for insect control. In the current investigation, we analyzed the diversity and abundance of gut microbiota across the CBB developmental stages under field conditions by using high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Overall, 15 bacterial phyla, 38 classes, 61 orders, 101 families and 177 genera were identified across all life stages, including egg, larva 1, larva 2, pupa, and adults (female and male). Proteobacteria and Firmicutes phyla dominated the microbiota along the entire insect life cycle. Among the 177 genera, the 10 most abundant were members of Ochrobactrum (15.1%), Pantoea (6.6%), Erwinia (5.7%), Lactobacillus (4.3%), Acinetobacter (3.4%), Stenotrophomonas (3.1%), Akkermansia (3.0%), Agrobacterium (2.9%), Curtobacterium (2.7%), and Clostridium (2.7%). We found that the overall bacterial composition is diverse, variable within each life stage and appears to vary across development. About 20% of the identified OTUs were shared across all life stages, from which 28 OTUs were consistently found in all life stage replicates. Among these OTUs there are members of genera Pantoea, Erwinia, Agrobacterium, Ochrobactrum, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Brachybacterium, Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium, which can be considered as the gut-associated core microbiota of H. hampei. Our findings bring additional data to enrich the understanding of gut microbiota in CBB and its possible use for development of insect control strategies.

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