scholarly journals The mosquito microbiome includes habitat-specific but rare symbionts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Schrieke ◽  
Lois Maignien ◽  
Florentin Constancias ◽  
Florian Trigodet ◽  
Sarah Chakloute ◽  
...  

Microbial communities are known to influence mosquito lifestyles by modifying essential metabolic and behavioral processes that affect reproduction, development, immunity, digestion, egg survival, and ability to transmit pathogens. Many studies have used 16S rRNA gene amplicons to characterize mosquito microbiota and investigate factors that influence host-microbiota dynamics. However, a relatively low taxonomic resolution due to clustering methods based on arbitrary threshold and the overall dominance of Wolbachia or Asaia populations obscured the investigation of rare members of mosquito microbiota in previous studies. Here, we used high resolution Shannon entropy-based oligotyping approaches to analyze the microbiota of Culex pipiens, Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes individuals from continental and overseas regions in Southern France and Guadeloupe as well as from laboratories with or without antibiotics treatment. Our experimental design that resulted in a series of mosquito samples with a gradient of Wolbachia density and relative abundance along with high-resolution analyses of amplicon sequences enabled the recovery of a robust signal from typically less accessible bacterial taxa. Our data confirm species-specific mosquito-bacteria associations with geography as a primary factor that influences bacterial community structure. But interestingly, they also reveal co-occurring symbiotic bacterial variants within single individuals for both Elizabethkingia and Erwinia genera, distinct and specific Asaia and Chryseobacterium in continental and overseas territories and a putative rare Wolbachia variant. Overall, our study reveals the presence of previously-overlooked microdiversity and multiple closely related symbiotic strains within mosquito individuals with a remarkable habitat-specificity.

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Xiaochun Zhang ◽  
Huan Yu ◽  
Qi Yang ◽  
Ziwei Wang ◽  
Ruocheng Xia ◽  
...  

In recent years, trafficking and abuse of hallucinogenic mushrooms have become a serious social problem. It is therefore imperative to identify hallucinogenic mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe for national drug control legislation. An internal transcribed spacer (ITS) is a DNA barcoding tool utilized for species identification. Many methods have been used to discriminate the ITS region, but they are often limited by having a low resolution. In this study, we sought to analyze the ITS and its fragments, ITS1 and ITS2, by using high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis, which is a rapid and sensitive method for evaluating sequence variation within PCR amplicons. The ITS HRM assay was tested for specificity, reproducibility, sensitivity, and the capacity to analyze mixture samples. It was shown that the melting temperatures of the ITS, ITS1, and ITS2 of Psilocybe cubensis were 83.72 ± 0.01, 80.98 ± 0.06, and 83.46 ± 0.08 °C, and for other species, we also obtained species-specific results. Finally, we performed ITS sequencing to validate the presumptive taxonomic identity of our samples, and the sequencing output significantly supported our HRM data. Taken together, these results indicate that the HRM method can quickly distinguish the DNA barcoding of Psilocybe cubensis and other fungi, which can be utilized for drug trafficking cases and forensic science.


2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 6380-6385 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Temmerman ◽  
L. Masco ◽  
T. Vanhoutte ◽  
G. Huys ◽  
J. Swings

ABSTRACT The taxonomic characterization of a bacterial community is difficult to combine with the monitoring of its temporal changes. None of the currently available identification techniques are able to visualize a “complete” community, whereas techniques designed for analyzing bacterial ecosystems generally display limited or labor-intensive identification potential. This paper describes the optimization and validation of a nested-PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) approach for the species-specific analysis of bifidobacterial communities from any ecosystem. The method comprises a Bifidobacterium-specific PCR step, followed by purification of the amplicons that serve as template DNA in a second PCR step that amplifies the V3 and V6-V8 regions of the 16S rRNA gene. A mix of both amplicons is analyzed on a DGGE gel, after which the band positions are compared with a previously constructed database of reference strains. The method was validated through the analysis of four artificial mixtures, mimicking the possible bifidobacterial microbiota of the human and chicken intestine, a rumen, and the environment, and of two fecal samples. Except for the species Bifidobacterium coryneforme and B. indicum, all currently known bifidobacteria originating from various ecosystems can be identified in a highly reproducible manner. Because no further cloning and sequencing of the DGGE bands is necessary, this nested-PCR-DGGE technique can be completed within a 24-h span, allowing the species-specific monitoring of temporal changes in the bifidobacterial community.


Nematology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 847-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieven Waeyenberge ◽  
Nicole Viaene ◽  
Maurice Moens

Abstract ITS1, the 5.8S rRNA gene and ITS2 of the rDNA region were sequenced from 20 different Pratylenchus species. Additionally, the same region was sequenced from seven populations of P. penetrans. After purifying, cloning and sequencing the PCR products, all sequences were aligned in order to find unique sites suitable for the design of species-specific primers for P. penetrans. Since ITS regions showed variability between and even within populations of P. penetrans, only three small DNA sequences were suitable for the construction of three potentially useful species-specific primers. New species-specific primers were paired with existing universal ITS primers and tested in all possible primer combinations. The best performing primer set, supplemented with a universal 28S rDNA primer set that served as an internal control, was tested in duplex PCR. The ideal annealing temperature, Mg2+ concentration and primer ratios were then determined for the most promising primer set. The optimised duplex PCR was subsequently tested on a wide range of different Pratylenchus spp. and 25 P. penetrans populations originating from all over the world. To test the sensitivity, the duplex PCR was conducted on DNA extracted from a single P. penetrans nematode mixed with varying amounts of nematodes belonging to another Pratylenchus species. Results showed that a reliable and sensitive P. penetrans species-specific duplex PCR was constructed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (13) ◽  
pp. 3969-3976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingrang Lu ◽  
Jorge W. Santo Domingo ◽  
Regina Lamendella ◽  
Thomas Edge ◽  
Stephen Hill

ABSTRACT In spite of increasing public health concerns about the potential risks associated with swimming in waters contaminated with waterfowl feces, little is known about the composition of the gut microbial community of aquatic birds. To address this, a gull 16S rRNA gene clone library was developed and analyzed to determine the identities of fecal bacteria. Analysis of 282 16S rRNA gene clones demonstrated that the gull gut bacterial community is mostly composed of populations closely related to Bacilli (37%), Clostridia (17%), Gammaproteobacteria (11%), and Bacteriodetes (1%). Interestingly, a considerable number of sequences (i.e., 26%) were closely related to Catellicoccus marimammalium, a gram-positive, catalase-negative bacterium. To determine the occurrence of C. marimammalium in waterfowl, species-specific 16S rRNA gene PCR and real-time assays were developed and used to test fecal DNA extracts from different bird (n = 13) and mammal (n = 26) species. The results showed that both assays were specific to gull fecal DNA and that C. marimammalium was present in gull fecal samples collected from the five locations in North America (California, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Toronto, Canada) tested. Additionally, 48 DNA extracts from waters collected from six sites in southern California, Great Lakes in Michigan, Lake Erie in Ohio, and Lake Ontario in Canada presumed to be impacted with gull feces were positive by the C. marimammalium assay. Due to the widespread presence of this species in gulls and environmental waters contaminated with gull feces, targeting this bacterial species might be useful for detecting gull fecal contamination in waterfowl-impacted waters.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 3171-3175 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Bonjoch ◽  
E. Ballesté ◽  
A. R. Blanch

ABSTRACT Bifidobacteria are one of the most common bacterial types found in the intestines of humans and other animals and may be used as indicators of human fecal pollution. The presence of nine human-related Bifidobacterium species was analyzed in human and animal wastewater samples of different origins by using species-specific primers based on 16S rRNA sequences. Only B. adolescentis and B. dentium were found exclusively in human sewage. A multiplex PCR approach with strain-specific primers was developed. The method showed a sensitivity threshold of 10 cells/ml. This new molecular method could provide useful information for the characterization of fecal pollution sources.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake W. Stamps ◽  
Wanda J. Lyon ◽  
Adam P. Irvin ◽  
Nancy Kelley-Loughnane ◽  
Michael S. Goodson

AbstractTraveler’s diarrhea (TD) is a recurrent and significant issue for many travelers including the military. While many known enteric pathogens exist that are causative agents of diarrhea, our gut microbiome may also play a role in travelers’ diarrhea susceptibility. To this end we conducted a pilot study of the microbiome of warfighters prior to- and after deployment overseas to identify marker taxa relevant to traveler’s diarrhea. This initial study utilized full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing to provide additional taxonomic resolution towards identifying predictive taxa.16S rRNA analyses of pre- and post-deployment fecal samples identified multiple marker taxa as significantly differentially abundant in subjects that reported diarrhea, including Weissella, Butyrivibrio, Corynebacterium, uncultivated Erysipelotrichaceae, Jeotgallibaca, unclassified Ktedonobacteriaceae, Leptolinea, and uncultivated Ruminiococcaceae. The ability to identify TD risk prior to travel will inform prevention and mitigation strategies to influence diarrhea susceptibility while traveling.


2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 1040-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Slany ◽  
Martina Vanerkova ◽  
Eva Nemcova ◽  
Barbora Zaloudikova ◽  
Filip Ruzicka ◽  
...  

High-resolution melting analysis (HRMA) is a fast (post-PCR) high-throughput method to scan for sequence variations in a target gene. The aim of this study was to test the potential of HRMA to distinguish particular bacterial species of the Staphylococcus genus even when using a broad-range PCR within the 16S rRNA gene where sequence differences are minimal. Genomic DNA samples isolated from 12 reference staphylococcal strains ( Staphylococcus aureus , Staphylococcus capitis , Staphylococcus caprae , Staphylococcus epidermidis , Staphylococcus haemolyticus , Staphylococcus hominis , Staphylococcus intermedius , Staphylococcus saprophyticus , Staphylococcus sciuri , Staphylococcus simulans , Staphylococcus warneri , and Staphylococcus xylosus ) were subjected to a real-time PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene in the presence of fluorescent dye EvaGreen™, followed by HRMA. Melting profiles were used as molecular fingerprints for bacterial species differentiation. HRMA of S. saprophyticus and S. xylosus resulted in undistinguishable profiles because of their identical sequences in the analyzed 16S rRNA region. The remaining reference strains were fully differentiated either directly or via high-resolution plots obtained by heteroduplex formation between coamplified PCR products of the tested staphylococcal strain and phylogenetically unrelated strain.


Nematology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Soon Kang ◽  
Kwang Sik Choi ◽  
Sang Chul Shin ◽  
Il Sung Moon ◽  
Sang Gil Lee ◽  
...  

Abstract Pine wood wilt disease caused by the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus , has been a serious problem in the southern regions of Korea. Efficient diagnosis of B. xylophilus from infected pine wood specimens is critical for the management of this pest. Traditional microscopic examination often results in an erroneous identification because a closely related non-pathogenic species, B. mucronatus, has a great degree of morphological similarity to B. xylophilus. In an attempt to search for reliable molecular markers for the discrimination of these species, we have cloned the 5S rRNA genomic DNA fragments containing both coding and intergenic spacer (IGS) regions from B. xylophilus and B. mucronatus through a homology-probing PCR strategy. Sequence analyses revealed that coding sequences of the 5S rRNA gene from the two species are almost identical (98.3% homology) but that the IGS sequences differ substantially between the species. Based on the IGS sequence differences (69.7% homology), we designed species-specific primer sets and developed a PCR-based diagnosis protocol for the identification and discrimination of the two nematode species on a molecular basis.


Author(s):  
Vibha Yadav ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Joshi ◽  
Namita Joshi ◽  
Amit Kumar ◽  
Satyavrat Singh

Background: Among enterobacteria E. coli and Klebsiella spp. are of great concern in health care settings, as these bacteria sometimes may contaminate the milk due to unhygienic practices and poor udder condition which have been associated with various illnesses. Therefore, this study aimed to detect the carbapenem resistant E. coli and Klebsiella spp. of bovine milk origin with regard to the risk of human transfer via the food chain in community. Methods: Total 240 samples were collected from Ayodhya and Sultanpur districts of Eastern Plain Zone of Uttar Pradesh (India). Confirmation of E. coli and Klebsiella spp. isolates was done by using species specific uidA and 16S rRNA gene, respectively. Then, carbapenemase positive E. coli and Klebsiella spp. were confirmend by DDST, MBL E-strip test and PCR analysis by targeting (bla-NDM, bla-OXA-48 and bla-KPC). Antibiogram of all carbapenemase positive isolates was performed against 20 antibiotics of 12 different classes. Result: In the present study, total 74(30.83%) isolates were identified including 55(22.92%) E. coli and 19(7.92%) Klebsiella spp. by PCR, out of which 12(16.21%) isolates were confirmed as carbapenemase producers comprising 7(12.72%) E. coli and 5(26.31%) Klebsiella spp by DDST and E-strip. All carbapenemase positive E. coli were found 100% sensitive to polymyxin-B and chloramphenicol, while all Klebsiella spp. were 100% sensitive to amikacin and polymyxin-B. Resistance against imipenem, meropenem, cefotaxime, cefpodoxime, ceftazidime, ceftriazone, aztreonam and ampicillin ranged between 80.0%-100%. All carbapenemase positive isolates were found multidrug resistant. Carbapenemase genes bla-NDM and bla-KPC were detected in E. coli while bla-OXA-48 and bla-KPC were detected in Klebsiella spp.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Diner ◽  
Ariel J. Rabines ◽  
Hong Zheng ◽  
Joshua A. Steele ◽  
John F. Griffith ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Many species of coastal Vibrio spp. bacteria can infect humans, representing an emerging health threat linked to increasing seawater temperatures. Vibrio interactions with the planktonic community impact coastal ecology and human infection potential. In particular, interactions with eukaryotic and photosynthetic organism may provide attachment substrate and critical nutrients (e.g. chitin, phytoplankton exudates) that facilitate the persistence, diversification, and spread of pathogenic Vibrio spp. Vibrio interactions with these organisms in an environmental context are, however, poorly understood.Results We quantified pathogenic Vibrio species, including V. cholerae, V. parahaemolyticus, and V. vulnificus, and two virulence-associated genes for one year at five coastal sites in Southern California and used metabarcoding to profile associated prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities, including vibrio-specific communities. These Vibrio spp. reached high abundances, particularly during Summer months, and inhabited distinct species-specific environmental niches driven by temperature and salinity. Associated bacterial and eukaryotic taxa identified at fine-scale taxonomic resolution revealed genus and species-level relationships. For example, common Thalassiosira genera diatoms capable of exuding chitin were positively associated with V. cholerae and V. vulnificus in a species-specific manner, while the most abundant eukaryotic genus, the diatom Chaetoceros, was positively associated with V. parahaemolyticus. Associations were often linked to shared environmental preferences, and several copepod genera were linked to low-salinity environmental conditions and abundant V. cholerae and V. vulnificus.Conclusions This study clarifies ecological relationships between pathogenic Vibrio spp. and the planktonic community, elucidating new functionally relevant associations, establishing a workflow for examining environmental pathogen microbiomes, and highlighting prospective model systems for future mechanistic studies.


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