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Biomolecules Oct 2023The larval stages of the tobacco budworm, (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), are parasitized by the endophagous parasitoid wasp, (Viereck) (Hymenoptera:...
The larval stages of the tobacco budworm, (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), are parasitized by the endophagous parasitoid wasp, (Viereck) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). During the injections of eggs, this parasitoid wasp also injects into the host body the secretion of the venom gland and the calyx fluid, which contains a polydnavirus ( BracoVirus: BV) and the Ovarian calyx fluid Proteins (OPs). The effects of the OPs on the host immune system have recently been described. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the OPs cause hemocytes to undergo a number of changes, such as cellular oxidative stress, actin cytoskeleton modifications, vacuolization, and the inhibition of hemocyte encapsulation capacity, which results in both a loss of hemocyte functionality and cell death. In this study, by using a combined transcriptomic and proteomic analysis, the main components of ovarian calyx fluid proteins were identified and their possible role in the parasitic syndrome was discussed. This study provides useful information to support the analysis of the function of ovarian calyx fluid proteins, to better understand parasitization success and for a more thorough understanding of the components of ovarian calyx fluid proteins and their potential function in combination with other parasitoid factors.
Topics: Animals; Transcriptome; Proteomics; Wasps; Moths; Larva; Porifera
PubMed: 37892230
DOI: 10.3390/biom13101547 -
Marine Drugs Aug 2023Marine sponges of the subclass Keratosa originated on our planet about 900 million years ago and represent evolutionarily ancient and hierarchically structured...
Marine sponges of the subclass Keratosa originated on our planet about 900 million years ago and represent evolutionarily ancient and hierarchically structured biological materials. One of them, proteinaceous spongin, is responsible for the formation of 3D structured fibrous skeletons and remains enigmatic with complex chemistry. The objective of this study was to investigate the interaction of spongin with iron ions in a marine environment due to biocorrosion, leading to the occurrence of lepidocrocite. For this purpose, a biomimetic approach for the development of a new lepidocrocite-containing 3D spongin scaffold under laboratory conditions at 24 °C using artificial seawater and iron is described for the first time. This method helps to obtain a new composite as "Iron-Spongin", which was characterized by infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry. Furthermore, sophisticated techniques such as X-ray fluorescence, microscope technique, and X-Ray diffraction were used to determine the structure. This research proposed a corresponding mechanism of lepidocrocite formation, which may be connected with the spongin amino acids functional groups. Moreover, the potential application of the biocomposite as an electrochemical dopamine sensor is proposed. The conducted research not only shows the mechanism or sensor properties of "Iron-spongin" but also opens the door to other applications of these multifunctional materials.
Topics: Animals; Iron; Biomimetics; Dopamine; Porifera
PubMed: 37755073
DOI: 10.3390/md21090460 -
Molecular Biology Reports Jan 2024The Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) harbors a great diversity of Porifera. In particular, the Aplysina genus has acquired biotechnological and pharmacological importance....
BACKGROUND
The Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) harbors a great diversity of Porifera. In particular, the Aplysina genus has acquired biotechnological and pharmacological importance. Nevertheless, the ecological aspects of their species and populations have been poorly studied. Aplysina gerardogreeni is the most conspicuous verongid sponge from the ETP, where it is usually found on rocky-coralline ecosystems. We evaluated the polymorphism levels of 18 microsatellites obtained from next-generation sequencing technologies. Furthermore, we tested the null hypothesis of panmixia in A. gerardogreeni population from two Mexican-Pacific localities.
METHODS AND RESULTS
A total of 6,128,000 paired reads were processed of which primer sets of 18 microsatellites were designed. The loci were tested in 64 specimens from Mazatlan, Sinaloa (N = 32) and Isabel Island, Nayarit (N = 32). The microsatellites developed were moderately polymorphic with a range of alleles between 2 and 11, and Ho between 0.069 and 0.785. Fifteen loci displayed significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No linkage disequilibrium was detected. A strong genetic structure was confirmed between localities using hierarchical Bayesian analyses, principal coordinates analyses, and fixation indices (F = 0.108*). All the samples were assigned to their locality; however, there was a small sign of mixing between localities.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite the moderate values of diversity in microsatellites, they showed a strong signal of genetic structure between populations. We suggest that these molecular markers can be a relevant tool to evaluate all populations across the ETP. In addition, 17 of these microsatellites were successfully amplified in the species A. fistularis and A. lacunosa, meaning they could also be applied in congeneric sponges from the Caribbean Sea. The use of these molecular markers in population genetic studies will allow assessment of the connectivity patterns in species of the Aplysina genus.
Topics: Bayes Theorem; Ecosystem; Alleles; Biotechnology; Microsatellite Repeats
PubMed: 38183556
DOI: 10.1007/s11033-023-09043-7 -
Marine Drugs Sep 2023Marine sponges usually host a wide array of secondary metabolites that play crucial roles in their biological interactions. The factors that influence the intraspecific...
Marine sponges usually host a wide array of secondary metabolites that play crucial roles in their biological interactions. The factors that influence the intraspecific variability in the metabolic profile of organisms, their production or ecological function remain generally unknown. Understanding this may help predict changes in biological relationships due to environmental variations as a consequence of climate change. The sponge is common in shallow rocky bottoms of the Antarctic Peninsula and is known to produce diterpenes that are supposed to have defensive roles. Here we used GC-MS to determine the major diterpenes in two populations of from two islands, Livingston and Deception Island (South Shetland Islands). To assess the potential effect of heat stress, we exposed the sponge in aquaria to a control temperature (similar to local), heat stress (five degrees higher) and extreme heat stress (ten degrees higher). To test for defence induction by predation pressure, we exposed the sponges to the sea star and the amphipod . Seven major diterpenes were isolated and identified from the samples. While six of them were already reported in the literature, we identified one new aplysulphurane derivative that was more abundant in the samples from Deception Island, so we named it deceptionin (). The samples were separated in the PCA space according to the island of collection, with 9,11-dihydrogracilin A () being more abundant in the samples from Livingston, and deceptionin () in the samples from Deception. We found a slight effect of heat stress on the diterpene profiles of , with tetrahydroaplysulphurin-1 () and the gracilane norditerpene being more abundant in the group exposed to heat stress. Predation pressure did not seem to influence the metabolite production. Further research on the bioactivity of secondary metabolites, and their responses to environmental changes will help better understand the functioning and fate of the Antarctic benthos.
Topics: Animals; Terpenes; Antarctic Regions; Predatory Behavior; Amphipoda; Bandages; Porifera; Starfish
PubMed: 37755112
DOI: 10.3390/md21090499 -
Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao = Chinese... Jan 2024'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui' is a new cultivar of with cross-cultivar group characteristics. It has typical characteristics of cinnabar purple cultivar group and green...
'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui' is a new cultivar of with cross-cultivar group characteristics. It has typical characteristics of cinnabar purple cultivar group and green calyx cultivar group. It has green calyx, white flower, and light purple xylem, but the mechanism remains unclear. In order to clarify the causes of its cross-cultivar group traits, the color phenotype, anthocyanin content and the expression levels of genes related to anthocyanin synthesis pathway of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui', 'Yuxi Zhusha' and 'Yuxi Bian Lü'e' were determined. It was found that the red degree of petals, sepals and fresh xylem in branches was positively correlated with the total anthocyanin content. , , and were the key transcription factor genes that affected the redness of the three cultivars of flowers and xylem. The transcription factors further promoted the high expression of structural genes , , and , thereby promoting the production of red traits. Combined with phenotype, anthocyanin content and qRT-PCR results, it was speculated that the white color of petals of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui' were derived from the high expression of , , and genes in other branches of cyanidin synthesis pathway, and the low expression of gene. The green color of sepals might be originated from the relatively low expression of , and genes. The red color of xylem might be derived from the high expression of and genes. This study made a preliminary explanation for the characteristics of the cross-cultivar group of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui', and provided a reference for molecular breeding of flower color and xylem color of .
Topics: Animals; Anthocyanins; DNA Shuffling; Flowers; Porifera; Prunus; Glutamine; Plant Extracts
PubMed: 38258644
DOI: 10.13345/j.cjb.230287 -
Journal of Natural Products Oct 2023Ureidopeptidic natural products possess a wide variety of favorable pharmacological properties. In addition, they have been shown to mediate core physiological functions...
Ureidopeptidic natural products possess a wide variety of favorable pharmacological properties. In addition, they have been shown to mediate core physiological functions in producer bacteria. Here, we report that similar ureidopeptidic natural products with conserved biosynthetic gene clusters are produced by different bacterial genera that coinhabit marine invertebrate microbiomes. We demonstrate that a strain isolated from a marine sponge can produce two different classes of ureidopeptide natural products encoded by two different biosynthetic gene clusters that are positioned on the bacterial chromosome and on a plasmid. The plasmid encoded ureidopeptide natural products, which we term the pseudobulbiferamides (-), resemble the ureidopeptide natural products produced by , a different marine bacterial genus that is likewise present in marine sponge commensal microbiomes. Using imaging mass spectrometry, we find that the two classes of -derived ureidopeptides occupy different physical spaces relative to the bacterial colony, perhaps implying different roles for these two compound classes in physiology and environmental interactions.
Topics: Animals; Biological Products; Porifera; Bacteria; Plasmids; Multigene Family; Phylogeny
PubMed: 37713418
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00595 -
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex... Jul 2023Antarctica is no longer pristine due to the confirmed presence of anthropogenic contaminants like Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Benthic organisms are poorly...
Antarctica is no longer pristine due to the confirmed presence of anthropogenic contaminants like Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Benthic organisms are poorly represented in contamination studies in Antarctica although they are known to bioaccumulate contaminants. Sponges (Phylum Porifera) are dominant members in Antarctic benthos, both in terms of abundance and biomass, and are an important feeding source for other organisms, playing key functional roles in benthic communities. To the best of our knowledge, legacy chlorinated POPs such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and their metabolites have never been investigated in this Phylum in Antarctica. The aim of this work was to evaluate the bioaccumulation of PCBs, HCB, o,p'- and p,p'-DDT and their DDE and DDD isomers in 35 sponge samples, belonging to 17 different species, collected along the coast of Terra Nova Bay (Adèlie Cove and Tethys Bay, Ross Sea), and at Whalers Bay (Deception Island, South Shetland Islands) in Antarctica. Lipid content showed a significant correlation with the three pollutant classes. The overall observed pattern in the three study sites was ΣPCBs>ΣDDTs>HCB and it was found in almost every species. The ΣPCBs, ΣDDTs, and HCB ranged from 54.2 to 133.7 ng/g lipid weight (lw), from 17.5 to 38.6 ng/g lw and from 4.8 to 8.5 ng/g lw, respectively. Sponges showed contamination levels comparable to other Antarctic benthic organisms from previous studies. The comparison among sponges of the same species from different sites showed diverse patterns for PCBs only in one out of four cases. The concentration of POPs did not vary significantly among the three sites. The predominance of lower chlorinated organochlorines in the samples suggested that long-range atmospheric transportation (LRAT) could be the major driver of contamination as molecules with a high long range transport potential (e.g. low chlorinated PCBs, HCB) prevails on heavier ones.
Topics: Environmental Pollutants; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; DDT; Antarctic Regions; Bioaccumulation; Hexachlorobenzene; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; Lipids; Environmental Monitoring
PubMed: 37085102
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121661 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2024Metaorganism research contributes substantially to our understanding of the interaction between microbes and their hosts, as well as their co-evolution. Most research is...
Metaorganism research contributes substantially to our understanding of the interaction between microbes and their hosts, as well as their co-evolution. Most research is currently focused on the bacterial community, while archaea often remain at the sidelines of metaorganism-related research. Here, we describe the archaeome of a total of eleven classical and emerging multicellular model organisms across the phylogenetic tree of life. To determine the microbial community composition of each host, we utilized a combination of archaea and bacteria-specific 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Members of the two prokaryotic domains were described regarding their community composition, diversity, and richness in each multicellular host. Moreover, association with specific hosts and possible interaction partners between the bacterial and archaeal communities were determined for the marine models. Our data show that the archaeome in marine hosts predominantly consists of and , which represent keystone taxa among the porifera. The presence of an archaeome in the terrestrial hosts varies substantially. With respect to abundant archaeal taxa, they harbor a higher proportion of methanoarchaea over the aquatic environment. We find that the archaeal community is much less diverse than its bacterial counterpart. Archaeal amplicon sequence variants are usually host-specific, suggesting adaptation through co-evolution with the host. While bacterial richness was higher in the aquatic than the terrestrial hosts, a significant difference in diversity and richness between these groups could not be observed in the archaeal dataset. Our data show a large proportion of unclassifiable archaeal taxa, highlighting the need for improved cultivation efforts and expanded databases.
PubMed: 38476944
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1347422 -
Anais Da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias 2023A new lectin from marine sponge Ircinia strobilina, denominated IsL, was isolated by combination of affinity chromatography in Guar gum matrix followed by size exclusion...
A new lectin from marine sponge Ircinia strobilina, denominated IsL, was isolated by combination of affinity chromatography in Guar gum matrix followed by size exclusion chromatography. IsL was able to agglutinate native and enzymatically treated rabbit erythrocytes, being inhibited by galactosides, such as α-methyl-D-galactopyranoside, β-methyl-D-galactopyranoside and α-lactose. IsL hemagglutinating activity was stable at neutral to alkaline pH, however the lectin loses its activity at 40° C. The molecular mass determinated by mass spectrometry was 13.655 ± 5 Da. Approximately 40% of the primary structure of IsL was determined by mass spectrometry, but no similarity was observed with any protein. The secondary structure of IsL consists of 28% α-helix, 26% β-sheet, and 46% random region, as determined by dichroism circular. IsL was a calcium-dependent lectin, but no significant variations were observed by circular dichroism when IsL was incubated in presence of calcium and EDTA. IsL was not toxic against Artemia nauplii and did not have antimicrobial activity against bacterial cells. However, the IsL was able to significantly inhibit the biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis.
Topics: Animals; Rabbits; Lectins; Galactose; Calcium; Porifera; Biofilms
PubMed: 38088730
DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765202320220619 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2024Antarctic Porifera have gained increasing interest as hosts of diversified associated microbial communities that could provide interesting insights on the holobiome...
INTRODUCTION
Antarctic Porifera have gained increasing interest as hosts of diversified associated microbial communities that could provide interesting insights on the holobiome system and its relation with environmental parameters.
METHODS
The Antarctic demosponge species and were targeted for the determination of persistent organic pollutant (i. e., polychlorobiphenyls, PCBs, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs) and trace metal concentrations, along with the characterization of the associated prokaryotic communities by the 16S rRNA next generation sequencing, to evaluate possible relationships between pollutant accumulation (e.g., as a stress factor) and prokaryotic community composition in Antarctic sponges. To the best of our knowledge, this approach has been never applied before.
RESULTS
Notably, both chemical and microbiological data on (a quite rare species in the Ross Sea) are here reported for the first time, as well as the determination of PAHs in Antarctic Porifera. Both sponge species generally contained higher amounts of pollutants than the surrounding sediment and seawater, thus demonstrating their accumulation capability. The structure of the associated prokaryotic communities, even if differing at order and genus levels between the two sponge species, was dominated by and (with abundances that were negligible) and appeared in sharp contrast to communities inhabiting the bulk environment.
DISCUSSIONS
Results suggested that some bacterial groups associated with and were significantly (positively or negatively) correlated to the occurrence of certain contaminants.
PubMed: 38404594
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1341641