Use of Caenorhabditis elegans for Preselecting Lactobacillus Isolates To Control Salmonella Typhimurium

2011 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHUNYANG WANG ◽  
JINQUAN WANG ◽  
JOSHUA GONG ◽  
HAI YU ◽  
JENNIFER C. PACAN ◽  
...  

Host-specific probiotics have been used to control enteric pathogens, including foodborne pathogens, in food animal production. However, evaluation of the efficacy of these probiotics requires costly in vivo assays in the target animal. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been used for prescreening of antimicrobial agents and for studies of host-pathogen interactions. In the present study, 17 Lactobacillus isolates from chicken and pig intestines were tested with C. elegans, and the ability of these isolates to prevent death from Salmonella infection was variable. Two Lactobacillus isolates (S64, which gave full protection, and CL11, which gave no protection) were further studied. Both isolates exhibited a similar colonization profile in the C. elegans intestine. Although different culture fractions of CL11 were not protective, both live and heat-killed S64 cells provided full or partial protection of C. elegans from death caused by Salmonella infection. In contrast, different culture fractions from both isolates had similar effects on the colonization of the nematode intestine by Salmonella Typhimurium DT104. Our preliminary results from a pig performance trial revealed a correlation between the degree of protection in the C. elegans survival assay and the performance of 35-day-old weaned piglets that were treated with the same Lactobacillus isolates, suggesting that C. elegans can be used as a laboratory animal model for preselecting probiotics for control of Salmonella infections.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (18) ◽  
pp. 5598
Author(s):  
Marie Lang ◽  
Aude Montjarret ◽  
Emmanuel Duteil ◽  
Gilles Bedoux

The regulation of intestinal colonization in livestock by means of non-bactericidal additives is an important management lever for zoonotic bacteria such as Salmonella spp. Caenorhabditis elegans is proposed here as a model for the evaluation of five essential oils (EOs) as anti-colonization products against Salmonella Typhimurium. An evaluation of the toxicity of EOs for C. elegans showed LD50 values ranging from 74.5 ± 9.6 µg/mL for Cinnamomum cassia (CEO) to 271.6 ± 14.9 µg/mL for Syzygium aromaticum (SyEO). Both EOs significantly inhibited bacterial colonization in the digestive tract of C. elegans with reductions of 0.88 and 0.70 log CFU/nematode at nontoxic concentrations of 50 µg/mL and 150 µg/mL, respectively. With the minimal bactericidal concentrations of CEO and SyEO against S. Typhimurium being 312.5 µg/mL and 625 µg/mL, respectively, an antibacterial effect can be excluded to explain the inhibition of the bacterial load. The anti-colonizing activity of these two EOs could, however, be related to an inhibition of the swimming motility, which was significantly reduced by 23.47% for CEO at 50 µg/mL and 19.56% for SyEO at 150 µg/mL. This study shows the potential of C. elegans as a predictive in vivo model of anti-colonizing activities that is suitable for the evaluation of essential oils.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Dayana Torres Valladares ◽  
Sirisha Kudumala ◽  
Murad Hossain ◽  
Lucia Carvelli

Amphetamine is a potent psychostimulant also used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. In vivo and in vitro data have demonstrated that amphetamine increases the amount of extra synaptic dopamine by both inhibiting reuptake and promoting efflux of dopamine through the dopamine transporter. Previous studies have shown that chronic use of amphetamine causes tolerance to the drug. Thus, since the molecular mechanisms underlying tolerance to amphetamine are still unknown, an animal model to identify the neurochemical mechanisms associated with drug tolerance is greatly needed. Here we took advantage of a unique behavior caused by amphetamine in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> to investigate whether this simple, but powerful, genetic model develops tolerance following repeated exposure to amphetamine. We found that at least 3 treatments with 0.5 mM amphetamine were necessary to see a reduction in the amphetamine-induced behavior and, thus, to promote tolerance. Moreover, we found that, after intervals of 60/90 minutes between treatments, animals were more likely to exhibit tolerance than animals that underwent 10-minute intervals between treatments. Taken together, our results show that <i>C. elegans</i> is a suitable system to study tolerance to drugs of abuse such as amphetamines.


Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Bossinger ◽  
E. Schierenberg

The pattern of autofluorescence in the two free-living namatodes Rhabditis dolichura and Caenorhabditis compared. In C. elegans, during later embryogenesis cells develop a typical bluish autofluorescence as illumination, while in Rh. dolichura a strong already present in the unfertilized egg. Using a new,


Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Moliner ◽  
Lillian Barros ◽  
Maria Dias ◽  
Víctor López ◽  
Elisa Langa ◽  
...  

Tagetes erecta L. has long been consumed for culinary and medicinal purposes in different countries. The aim of this study was to explore the potential benefits from two cultivars of T. erecta related to its polyphenolic profile as well as antioxidant and anti-aging properties. The phenolic composition was analyzed by LC-DAD-ESI/MSn. Folin-Ciocalteu, DPPH·, and FRAP assays were performed in order to evaluate reducing antiradical properties. The neuroprotective potential was evaluated using the enzymes acetylcholinesterase and monoamine oxidase. Caenorhabditis elegans was used as an in vivo model to assess extract toxicity, antioxidant activity, delayed aging, and reduced β-amyloid toxicity. Both extracts showed similar phenolic profiles and bioactivities. The main polyphenols found were laricitin and its glycosides. No acute toxicity was detected for extracts in the C. elegans model. T. erecta flower extracts showed promising antioxidant and neuroprotective properties in the different tested models. Hence, these results may add some information supporting the possibilities of using these plants as functional foods and/or as nutraceutical ingredients.


2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 7236-7242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Creg Darby ◽  
Sandya L. Ananth ◽  
Li Tan ◽  
B. Joseph Hinnebusch

ABSTRACT Yersinia pestis, the cause of bubonic plague, blocks feeding by its vector, the flea. Recent evidence indicates that blockage is mediated by an in vivo biofilm. Y. pestis and the closely related Yersinia pseudotuberculosis also make biofilms on the cuticle of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which block this laboratory animal's feeding. Random screening of Y. pseudotuberculosis transposon insertion mutants with a C. elegans biofilm assay identified gmhA as a gene required for normal biofilms. gmhA encodes phosphoheptose isomerase, an enzyme required for synthesis of heptose, a conserved component of lipopolysaccharide and lipooligosaccharide. A Y. pestis gmhA mutant was constructed and was severely defective for C. elegans biofilm formation and for flea blockage but only moderately defective in an in vitro biofilm assay. These results validate use of the C. elegans biofilm system to identify genes and pathways involved in Y. pestis flea blockage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaiyong Zhang ◽  
Shuqin Pan ◽  
Keying Zhang ◽  
Joris Michiels ◽  
Qiufeng Zeng ◽  
...  

Growing concern for public health and food safety has prompted a special interest in developing nutritional strategies for removing waterborne and foodborne pathogens, including Salmonella. Strong links between manganese (Mn) and intestinal barrier or immune function hint that dietary Mn supplementation is likely to be a promising approach to limit the loads of pathogens in broilers. Here, we provide evidence that Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium, 4 × 108 CFUs) challenge-induced intestinal injury along with systemic Mn redistribution in broilers. Further examining of the effect of dietary Mn treatments (a basal diet plus additional 0, 40, or 100 mg Mn/kg for corresponding to Mn-deficient, control, or Mn-surfeit diet, respectively) on intestinal barrier and inflammation status of broilers infected with S. Typhimurium revealed that birds fed the control and Mn-surfeit diets exhibited improved intestinal tight junctions and microbiota composition. Even without Salmonella infection, dietary Mn deficiency alone increased intestinal permeability by impairing intestinal tight junctions. In addition, when fed the control and Mn-surfeit diets, birds showed decreased Salmonella burdens in cecal content and spleen, with a concomitant increase in inflammatory cytokine levels in spleen. Furthermore, the dietary Mn-supplementation-mediated induction of cytokine production was probably associated with the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB)/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) pathway, as judged by the enhanced manganese superoxide dismutase activity and the increased H2O2 level in mitochondria, together with the increased mRNA level of NF-κB in spleen. Ingenuity-pathway analysis indicated that acute-phase response pathways, T helper type 1 pathway, and dendritic cell maturation were significantly activated by the dietary Mn supplementation. Our data suggest that dietary Mn supplementation could enhance intestinal barrier and splenic inflammatory response to fight against Salmonella infection in broilers.


Antioxidants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 811
Author(s):  
Cristina Moliner ◽  
Víctor López ◽  
Lillian Barros ◽  
Maria Inês Dias ◽  
Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira ◽  
...  

Rosmarinus officinalis L., commonly known as rosemary, has been largely studied for its wide use as food ingredient and medicinal plant; less attention has been given to its edible flowers, being necessary to evaluate their potential as functional foods or nutraceuticals. To achieve that, the phenolic profile of the ethanolic extract of R. officinalis flowers was determined using LC-DAD-ESI/MSn and then its antioxidant and anti-ageing potential was studied through in vitro and in vivo assays using Caenorhabditis elegans. The phenolic content was 14.3 ± 0.1 mg/g extract, trans rosmarinic acid being the predominant compound in the extract, which also exhibited a strong antioxidant capacity in vitro and increased the survival rate of C. elegans exposed to lethal oxidative stress. Moreover, R. officinalis flowers extended C. elegans lifespan up to 18%. Therefore, these findings support the potential use of R. officinalis flowers as ingredients to develop products with pharmaceutical and/or nutraceutical potential.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcello Germoglio ◽  
Anna Valenti ◽  
Ines Gallo ◽  
Chiara Forenza ◽  
Pamela Santonicola ◽  
...  

AbstractFanconi Anemia is a rare genetic disease associated with DNA repair defects, congenital abnormalities and infertility. Most of FA pathway is evolutionary conserved, allowing dissection and mechanistic studies in simpler model systems such as Caenorhabditis elegans. In the present study, we employed C. elegans to better understand the role of FA group D2 (FANCD2) protein in vivo, a key player in promoting genome stability. We report that localization of FCD-2/FANCD2 is dynamic during meiotic prophase I and requires its heterodimeric partner FNCI-1/FANCI. Strikingly, we found that FCD-2 recruitment depends on SPO-11-induced double-strand breaks (DSBs) but not RAD-51-mediated strand invasion. Furthermore, exposure to DNA damage-inducing agents boosts FCD-2 recruitment on the chromatin. Finally, analysis of genetic interaction between FCD-2 and BRC-1 (the C. elegans orthologue of mammalian BRCA1) supports a role for these proteins in different DSB repair pathways. Collectively, we showed a direct involvement of FCD-2 at DSBs and speculate on its function in driving meiotic DNA repair.


2018 ◽  
Vol 293 (43) ◽  
pp. 16912-16922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanqing Zheng ◽  
Hilton Chiu ◽  
Jeffrey Boudreau ◽  
Tony Papanicolaou ◽  
William Bendena ◽  
...  

The human genome encodes 10 insulin-like genes, whereas the Caenorhabditis elegans genome remarkably encodes 40 insulin-like genes. Knockout strategies to determine the roles of all the insulin/insulin-like peptide ligands (INS) in C. elegans has been challenging due to functional redundancy. Here, we individually overexpressed each of the 40 ins genes pan-neuronally, and monitored multiple phenotypes including: L1 arrest life span, neuroblast divisions under L1 arrest, dauer formation, and fat accumulation, as readouts to characterize the functions of each INS in vivo. Of the 40 INS peptides, we found functions for 35 INS peptides and functionally categorized each as agonists, antagonists, or of pleiotropic function. In particular, we found that 9 of 16 agonistic INS peptides shortened L1 arrest life span and promoted neuroblast divisions during L1 arrest. Our study revealed that a subset of β-class INS peptides that contain a distinct F peptide sequence are agonists. Our work is the first to categorize the structures of INS peptides and relate these structures to the functions of all 40 INS peptides in vivo. Our findings will promote the study of insulin function on development, metabolism, and aging-related diseases.


Author(s):  
Ramiro Lorenzo ◽  
Michiho Onizuka ◽  
Matthieu Defrance ◽  
Patrick Laurent

Abstract Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) of the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system offers the unique opportunity to obtain a partial expression profile for each neuron within a known connectome. Building on recent scRNA-seq data and on a molecular atlas describing the expression pattern of ∼800 genes at the single cell resolution, we designed an iterative clustering analysis aiming to match each cell-cluster to the ∼100 anatomically defined neuron classes of C. elegans. This heuristic approach successfully assigned 97 of the 118 neuron classes to a cluster. Sixty two clusters were assigned to a single neuron class and 15 clusters grouped neuron classes sharing close molecular signatures. Pseudotime analysis revealed a maturation process occurring in some neurons (e.g. PDA) during the L2 stage. Based on the molecular profiles of all identified neurons, we predicted cell fate regulators and experimentally validated unc-86 for the normal differentiation of RMG neurons. Furthermore, we observed that different classes of genes functionally diversify sensory neurons, interneurons and motorneurons. Finally, we designed 15 new neuron class-specific promoters validated in vivo. Amongst them, 10 represent the only specific promoter reported to this day, expanding the list of neurons amenable to genetic manipulations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document