Anthelmintic drugs modulate the acute phase immune response but not the microbiota in wild Song Sparrows

The Auk ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace J Vaziri ◽  
Michelle A Jusino ◽  
Jon M Palmer ◽  
Matthew T Brewer ◽  
James S Adelman
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Anthelmintic Treatment ◽  
Natural State ◽  
Similar Degree ◽  
Immune Challenge ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
Anthelmintic Drugs

Abstract Co-infection with microparasites (e.g., bacteria) and macroparasites (e.g., helminths) is often the natural state for wild animals. Despite evidence that gut helminths can bias immune responses away from inflammatory processes, few field studies have examined the role that helminths, or their potential interactions with internal microbial communities, play in modulating immunity in free-living, wild birds. Here, we used anthelmintic drugs to treat wild Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) for helminth infections and measured markers of systemic inflammation (heterothermia and locomotor activity) in response to an immune challenge with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a cell wall component of gram-negative bacteria. Using birds from a population that previously showed high helminth prevalence, we monitored skin temperature and activity remotely using automated radio telemetry. We also collected cloacal swabs to determine whether drug treatment was associated with changes in the cloacal microbiota, and whether cloacal microbial community structure was associated with the severity of birds’ immune responses. Because helminths can reduce the severity of inflammatory immune responses in other species, we predicted that in comparison with untreated control birds, anthelmintic-treated birds would be more lethargic and display higher fevers when challenged with LPS. Consistent with these predictions, anthelmintic-treated birds expressed higher fevers in response to immune challenge. However, all LPS-challenged birds decreased locomotor activity to a similar degree, regardless of anthelmintic treatment. Although several individual indicator bacterial taxa were strongly associated with anthelmintic treatment, this treatment did not alter overall bacterial alpha- and beta- diversity. Similarly, we did not find evidence that bacterial community diversity influenced the severity of immune responses to LPS. These results suggest that under field conditions, natural helminth infection can reduce the severity of songbirds’ thermoregulatory responses (fever) during an immune challenge, without major impacts on internal microbial communities or behavioral responses to infection.

scholarly journals Natural resistance to worms exacerbates bovine tuberculosis severity independently of worm coinfection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa O. Ezenwa ◽  
Sarah A. Budischak ◽  
Peter Buss ◽  
Mauricio Seguel ◽  
Gordon Luikart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Primary Site ◽  
Anthelmintic Treatment ◽  
Natural Resistance ◽  
Wild Mammal ◽  
Host Immune Responses ◽  
Disease Outcomes ◽  
Disseminated Disease ◽  
Parasitic Worms

AbstractPathogen interactions arising during coinfection can exacerbate disease severity, for example, when the immune response mounted against one pathogen negatively affects defense of another. It is also possible that host immune responses to a pathogen shaped by historical evolutionary interactions between host and pathogen, may modify host immune defenses in ways that have repercussions for other pathogens. In this case, negative interactions between two pathogens could emerge even in the absence of concurrent infection. Parasitic worms and tuberculosis (TB) are involved in one of the most geographically extensive of pathogen interactions, and during coinfection, worms can exacerbate TB disease outcomes. Here, we show that in a wild mammal, natural resistance to worms affects bovine tuberculosis (BTB) severity independently of active worm infection. We found that worm-resistant individuals were more likely to die of BTB than were non-resistant individuals, and their disease progressed more quickly. Anthelmintic treatment moderated, but did not eliminate, the resistance effect, and the effects of resistance and treatment were additive with untreated, resistant individuals experiencing the highest mortality. Interestingly, resistance and anthelmintic treatment had non-overlapping effects on BTB pathology. The effects of resistance manifested in the lungs (the primary site of BTB infection), while the effects of treatment manifested almost entirely in the lymph nodes (the site of disseminated disease), suggesting that resistance and active worm infection affect BTB progression via distinct mechanisms. Our findings reveal that interactions between pathogens can occur as a consequence of processes arising on very different timescales.

scholarly journals 2262

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Derrick Richard Samuelson ◽  
Vincent Maffei ◽  
Eugene Blanchard ◽  
Meng Luo ◽  
Christopher Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Intestinal Permeability ◽  
Intestinal Microbiota ◽  
Host Defense ◽  
Intestinal Tract ◽  
Liver Inflammation ◽  
Host Defenses ◽  
Increased Susceptibility

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Alcohol consumption perturbs the normal intestinal microbial communities (alcohol dysbiosis). To begin to investigate the relationship between alcohol-mediated dysbiosis and host defense we developed an alcohol dysbiosis fecal adoptive transfer model, which allows us to isolate the host immune response to a pathogenic challenge at a distal organ (ie, the lung). This model system allowed us to determine whether the host immune responses to Klebsiella pneumoniae are altered by ethanol-associated dysbiosis, independent of alcohol use. We hypothesized that alcohol-induced changes in intestinal microbial communities would impair pulmonary host defenses against K. pneumoniae. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Mice were treated with a cocktail of antibiotics daily for 2 weeks. Microbiota-depleted mice were then recolonized by gavage for 3-days with intestinal microbiota from ethanol-fed or pair-fed animals. Following recolonization groups of mice were sacrificed prior to and 48 hours post respiratory infection with K. pneumoniae. We then assessed susceptibility to Klebsiella infection by determining colony counts for pathogen burden in the lungs. We also determined lung and intestinal immunology, intestinal permeability, as well as, liver damage and inflammation. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We found that increased susceptibility to K. pneumoniae is, in part, mediated by the intestinal microbiota, as animals recolonized with an alcohol-induced dysbiotic intestinal microbial community have significantly higher lung burdens of K. pneumoniae (5×104 CFU vs. 1×103 CFU) independent of EtOH. We also found that increased susceptibility in alcohol-dysbiosis recolonized animals was associated with a decrease in the recruitment and/or proliferation of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells (1.5×109 cells vs. 2.5×109 cells) in the lung following Klebsiella infection. However, there were increased numbers of T-cells in the intestinal tract following Klebsiella infection, which may suggest that T cells are being sequestered in the intestinal tract to the detriment of host defense in the lung. Interestingly, mice recolonized with an alcohol-dysbiotic microbiota had increased intestinal permeability as measured by increased levels of serum intestinal fatty acid binding protein (55 vs. 30 ng/mL). Alcohol-dysbiotic microbiota also increased liver steatosis (Oil Red-O staining) and liver inflammation (>2-fold expression of IL-17 and IL-23). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our findings suggest that the commensal intestinal microbiota support mucosal host defenses against infectious agents by facilitating normal immune responses to pulmonary pathogens. Our data also suggest that increased intestinal permeability coupled with increased liver inflammation may impair the recruitment/proliferation of immune cells in the respiratory tract following infection. The role of the microbiota during host defense will be important areas of future research directed at understanding the effects of microbial dysbiosis in patients with AUDs.

Interactions between zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and microbial communities

2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc E Frischer ◽  
Sandra A Nierzwicki-Bauer ◽  
Robert H Parsons ◽  
Kanda Vathanodorn ◽  
Kelli R Waitkus
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Hudson River ◽  
Zebra Mussels ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Ecological Effect ◽  
Clearance Rates ◽  
Surrounding Water ◽  
The Impact

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) have had an enormous impact on aquatic environments. However, little is known concerning their interactions with microbial communities. In these studies, the ability of zebra mussels to derive nutrition from bacterioplankton and their effect on microbial community diversity were investigated in samples from the Hudson River, New York, and in laboratory studies. Clear physiological responses to starvation were observed, including decreases in respiration rates, lipid content, and total weight, that were reversed after feeding zebra mussels a diet of bacteria. Clearance rates of bacteria were correlated with bacteria size (r2= 0.995), with the lowest clearance rates associated with small indigenous river bacteria (size = 0.03 ± 0.04 µm3, clearance rate = 0.08 ± 0.02 mL·mussel-1·min-1). Comparison of the diversity of microbial communities in zebra mussel tissue extract, detritus, and pseudofecal material associated with zebra mussel colonies, surrounding water, and sediment samples revealed distinct microbial assemblages associated with these environments. The overall ecological effect and importance of bacteria - zebra mussel interactions remains unclear, but these studies indicate that these interactions occur and should be included in our efforts to better understand the impact of zebra mussels on aquatic systems.

Nematode parasite populations in sheep on lowland farms IV. The effects of anthelmintic treatment

Parasitology ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 48 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 235-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. D. Crofton
Keyword(s):  
Anthelmintic Treatment ◽  
Nematode Parasite ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Parasite Populations ◽  
Anthelmintic Drugs

In the last twenty-five years, since it was realized that the control of flock infections was more important than the treatment of individuals with patent infections, there has been an increasing interest in the use of anthelmintic drugs. As might be expected there has been a wide search for the most effective chemicals and considerable research into the best methods of administration, and as a consequence of this many workers have been engaged in devising methods of testing the efficiency of various compounds.

scholarly journals Bacterial Communities in Concrete Reflect Its Composite Nature and Change with Weathering

mSystems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Anders Kiledal ◽  
Jessica L. Keffer ◽  
Julia A. Maresca
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Extreme Environment ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Bioindicator Species ◽  
Large Aggregate ◽  
Concrete Cylinders ◽  
Composite Nature ◽  
Outdoor Weathering ◽  
Very High

ABSTRACT Concrete is an extreme but common environment and is home to microbial communities adapted to alkaline, saline, and oligotrophic conditions. Microbes inside the concrete that makes up buildings or roads have received little attention despite their ubiquity and capacity to interact with the concrete. Because concrete is a composite of materials which have their own microbial communities, we hypothesized that the microbial communities of concrete reflect those of the concrete components and that these communities change as the concrete ages. Here, we used a 16S amplicon study to show how microbial communities change over 2 years of outdoor weathering in two sets of concrete cylinders, one prone to the concrete-degrading alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and the other having the risk of the ASR mitigated. After identifying and removing taxa that were likely laboratory or reagent contaminants, we found that precursor materials, particularly the large aggregate (gravel), were the probable source of ∼50 to 60% of the bacteria observed in the first cylinders from each series. Overall, community diversity decreased over 2 years, with temporarily increased diversity in warmer summer months. We found that most of the concrete microbiome was composed of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria, although community composition changed seasonally and over multiyear time scales and was likely influenced by environmental deposition. Although the community composition between the two series was not significantly different overall, several taxa, including Arcobacter, Modestobacter, Salinicoccus, Rheinheimera, Lawsonella, and Bryobacter, appear to be associated with ASR. IMPORTANCE Concrete is the most-used building material in the world and a biologically extreme environment, with a microbiome composed of bacteria that likely come from concrete precursor materials, aerosols, and environmental deposition. These microbes, though seeded from a variety of materials, are all subject to desiccation, heating, starvation, high salinity, and very high pH. Microbes that survive and even thrive under these conditions can potentially either degrade concrete or contribute to its repair. Thus, understanding which microbes survive in concrete, under what conditions, and for how long has potential implications for biorepair of concrete. Further, methodological pipelines for analyzing concrete microbial communities can be applied to concrete from a variety of structures or with different types of damage to identify bioindicator species that can be used for structural health monitoring and service life prediction.

scholarly journals Microbial community diversity in the soil of Barrientos Island estimated by RAPD and Biolog Ecoplate methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Learn-Han Lee ◽  
Vengadesh Letchumanan ◽  
Nurul-Syakima Ab Mutalib ◽  
Yoke Kqueen Cheah
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Soil Microbial Diversity ◽  
Microbial Community Diversity ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Biolog Ecoplate

The diversity of soil microbial communities at Barrientos Island with  differents soil characteristics were evaluated using PCR-based method random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and community level physiological profiles (CLPP) of Biolog Ecoplate. The soils were selected from 17 different locations around Barrientos Island inhabited by different breeders. Shannon-Weaver index and multivariate analysis were performed to characterize variations of soil microbial communities. Both RAPD and CLPP methods exhibited that most soils with different type of rookery and characteristics could possibly affect the DNA sequence diversity and soil microbial diversity. The abandoned type of rookery had the highest Shannon-Weaver index as exhibited by soil sample 445 (3.4 for RAPD) and 450 (3.09 for CLPP). Higher coefficients of DNA sequence similarity were found in soil samples colonized by similar breeders, like soil 442 and 446 (both were active Chinstrap rookery) shared highest similarity in DNA sequences (73.53). The cluster analysis of RAPD profiles by UPGMA and principle component analysis (PCA) of Biolog Ecoplate exhibited similar influence of type of rookery and soil condition towards soil microbial community diversity. The results may suggest that the change in microbial community DNA composition is accompanied with the change in microbial functional properties.

scholarly journals Fine scale diversification of endolithic microbial communities in the hyper-arid Atacama Desert

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Meslier ◽  
Maria Cristina Casero ◽  
Micah Dailey ◽  
Jacek Wierzchos ◽  
Carmen Ascaso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Fine Scale

ABSTRACTThe expansion of desertification across our planet is accelerating as the result of human activity and global climate change. In hyper-arid deserts, endolithic microbial communities colonize the rocks’ interior as a survival strategy. Yet, the composition of these communities and the drivers promoting their assembly are still poorly understood. Using a sampling strategy that minimized climate regime and biogeography effects, we analyzed the diversity and community composition of endoliths from four different lithic substrates – calcite, gypsum, ignimbrite and granite – collected in the hyper-arid zone of the Atacama Desert, Chile. By combining microscopy, mineralogy, and high throughput sequencing, we found these communities to be highly specific to their lithic substrate, although they were all dominated by the same four main phyla, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Proteobacteria. This finding indicates a fine scale diversification of the microbial reservoir driven by substrate properties. Our data suggest that the overall rock chemistry is not an essential driver of community structure and we propose that the architecture of the rock, i.e. the space available for colonization and its physical structure, linked to water retention capabilities, is ultimately the driver of community diversity and composition at the dry limit of life.Originality-Significance StatementIn this study, we demonstrated that endolithic microbial communities are highly specific to their substrates, suggesting a fine scale diversification of the available microbial reservoir. By using an array of rock substrates from the same climatic region, we established, for the first time, that the architecture of the rock is linked to water retention and is ultimately the driver of community diversity and composition at the dry limit for life.

scholarly journals Invasive vegetation affects amphibian skin microbiota and body condition

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Obed Hernández-Gómez ◽  
Allison Q. Byrne ◽  
Alex R. Gunderson ◽  
Thomas S. Jenkinson ◽  
Clay F. Noss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Sequence Variant ◽  
Soil Arthropods ◽  
Amphibian Skin ◽  
Skin Microbiota

Invasive plants are major drivers of habitat modification and the scale of their impact is increasing globally as anthropogenic activities facilitate their spread. In California, an invasive plant genus of great concern is Eucalyptus. Eucalyptus leaves can alter soil chemistry and negatively affect underground macro- and microbial communities. Amphibians serve as excellent models to evaluate the effect of Eucalyptus invasion on ground-dwelling species as they predate on soil arthropods and incorporate soil microbes into their microbiotas. The skin microbiota is particularly important to amphibian health, suggesting that invasive plant species could ultimately affect amphibian populations. To investigate the potential for invasive vegetation to induce changes in microbial communities, we sampled microbial communities in the soil and on the skin of local amphibians. Specifically, we compared Batrachoseps attenuatus skin microbiomes in both Eucalyptus globulus (Myrtaceae) and native Quercusagrifolia (Fagaceae) dominated forests in the San Francisco Bay Area. We determined whether changes in microbial diversity and composition in both soil and Batrachoseps attenuatus skin were associated with dominant vegetation type. To evaluate animal health across vegetation types, we compared Batrachoseps attenuatus body condition and the presence/absence of the amphibian skin pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. We found that Eucalyptus invasion had no measurable effect on soil microbial community diversity and a relatively small effect (compared to the effect of site identity) on community structure in the microhabitats sampled. In contrast, our results show that Batrachoseps attenuatus skin microbiota diversity was greater in Quercus dominated habitats. One amplicon sequence variant identified in the family Chlamydiaceae was observed in higher relative abundance among salamanders sampled in Eucalyptus dominated habitats. We also observed that Batrachoseps attenuatus body condition was higher in Quercus dominated habitats. Incidence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis across all individuals was very low (only one Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis positive individual). The effect on body condition demonstrates that although Eucalyptus may not always decrease amphibian abundance or diversity, it can potentially have cryptic negative effects. Our findings prompt further work to determine the mechanisms that lead to changes in the health and microbiome of native species post-plant invasion.

scholarly journals Is soil management system really important? comparison of microbial community diversity and structure in soils managed under organic and conventional regimes with some view on soil properties

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0256969
Author(s):  
Kamila Rachwał ◽  
Klaudia Gustaw ◽  
Waldemar Kazimierczak ◽  
Adam Waśko
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Microorganisms ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Management Regime ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Physical And Chemical

The fertility and productive value of soil are closely related to the physical and chemical properties of the soil as well as its biological activity. This activity is related to the intensity of microbially catalysed processes of transformation of organic and mineral substances contained in the soil. These processes are closely correlated with the abundance and biodiversity of soil microorganisms, especially bacteria, and the activity of enzymes produced by them. In this article we have compared some physicochemical properties of soil derived from conventional and organic farms and microbial communities inhabiting these ecosystems. We aim to investigate whether the soil management regime affects the abundance and diversity of these environments in terms of bacteria. Some differences in microbial communities were observed, but the rhizosphere of plants from organic and conventional soils does not harbour separate microbiomes. Albeit, the method of fertilization influences the diversity of soil microorganisms. A greater diversity of bacteria was observed in soils from farms where organic fertilizers were applied. Soil pH and activity of some soil enzymes were also shown to differ between organic and conventional soil cropping systems.

scholarly journals Taxon appearance from extraction and amplification steps demonstrates the value of multiple controls in tick microbiota analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie Lejal ◽  
Agustín Estrada-Peña ◽  
Maud Marsot ◽  
Jean-François Cosson ◽  
Olivier Rué ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Dna Extraction ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Dna Amplification ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Analytical Process ◽  
Sequencing Technologies ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackgroundThe development of high throughput sequencing technologies has substantially improved analysis of bacterial community diversity, composition, and functions. Over the last decade, high throughput sequencing has been used extensively to identify the diversity and composition of tick microbial communities. However, a growing number of studies are warning about the impact of contamination brought along the different steps of the analytical process, from DNA extraction to amplification. In low biomass samples, e.g. individual tick samples, these contaminants may represent a large part of the obtained sequences, and thus generate considerable errors in downstream analyses and in the interpretation of results. Most studies of tick microbiota either do not mention the inclusion of controls during the DNA extraction or amplification steps, or consider the lack of an electrophoresis signal as an absence of contamination. In this context, we aimed to assess the proportion of contaminant sequences resulting from these steps. We analyzed the microbiota of individual Ixodes ricinus ticks by including several categories of controls throughout the analytical process: crushing, DNA extraction, and DNA amplification.ResultsControls yielded a significant number of sequences (1,126 to 13,198 mean sequences, depending on the control category). Some operational taxonomic units (OTUs) detected in these controls belong to genera reported in previous tick microbiota studies. In this study, these OTUs accounted for 50.9% of the total number of sequences in our samples, and were considered contaminants. Contamination levels (i.e. the percentage of sequences belonging to OTUs identified as contaminants) varied with tick stage and gender: 76.3% of nymphs and 75% of males demonstrated contamination over 50%, while most females (65.7%) had rates lower than 20%. Contamination mainly corresponded to OTUs detected in crushing and DNA extraction controls, highlighting the importance of carefully controlling these steps.ConclusionHere, we showed that contaminant OTUs from extraction and amplification steps can represent more than half the total sequence yield in sequencing runs, and lead to unreliable results when characterizing tick microbial communities. We thus strongly advise the routine use of negative controls in tick microbiota studies, and more generally in studies involving low biomass samples.

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