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Frontiers in Microbiology 2023Ticks and fleas, as blood-sucking arthropods, carry and transmit various zoonotic diseases. In the natural plague foci of China, monitoring of has been continuously...
INTRODUCTION
Ticks and fleas, as blood-sucking arthropods, carry and transmit various zoonotic diseases. In the natural plague foci of China, monitoring of has been continuously conducted in and other host animals, whereas other pathogens carried by vectors are rarely concerned in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
METHODS
In this study, we investigated the microbiota of ticks and fleas sampling from in the Plateau, China by metataxonomics combined with metagenomic methods.
RESULTS
By metataxonomic approach based on full-length 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing and operational phylogenetic unit (OPU) analyses, we described the microbiota community of ticks and fleas at the species level, annotated 1,250 OPUs in ticks, including 556 known species and 492 potentially new species, accounting for 48.50% and 41.71% of the total reads in ticks, respectively. A total of 689 OPUs were detected in fleas, consisting of 277 known species (40.62% of the total reads in fleas) and 294 potentially new species (56.88%). At the dominant species categories, we detected the (OPU 421) and potentially pathogenic new species of , and . Using shotgun sequencing, we obtained 10 metagenomic assembled genomes (MAGs) from vector samples, including a known species ( DFT2), and six new species affliated to four known genera, i.e., , and . By the phylogenetic analyses based on full-length 16S rRNA genes and core genes, we identified that ticks harbored pathogenic . Moreover, these potentially pathogenic novel species were more closely related to subsp. , and , respectively. The OPU 422 Ehrlichia sp1 was most related to and . The OPU 230 sp1 and spp. (DTF8 and DTF9) was clustered with . The OPU 427 sp1 was clustered with .
DISCUSSION
The findings of the study have advanced our understanding of the potential pathogen groups of vectors in marmot () in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
PubMed: 37415819
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1188155 -
Vaccines Aug 2022, a Gram -ve, rod-shaped, and opportunistic bacteria isolated from the urine, feces, and skin of humans engage in a wide range of infectious diseases such as urinary...
, a Gram -ve, rod-shaped, and opportunistic bacteria isolated from the urine, feces, and skin of humans engage in a wide range of infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), gastroenteritis, and bacteremia. This bacterium belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family and can resist antibiotics known as multidrug-resistant (MDR), and as such can be life-threatening to humans. After retrieving the whole proteomic sequence of ATCC 35613, a total of 6 non-homologous and pathogenic proteins were separated. These shortlisted proteins were further analyzed for epitope prediction and found to be highly non-toxic, non-allergenic, and antigenic. From these sequences, T-cell and B-cell (major histocompatibility complex class 1 and 2) epitopes were extracted that provided vaccine constructs, which were then analyzed for population coverage to find its reliability worldwide. The population coverage for MHC-1 and MHC-2 was 98.29% and 81.81%, respectively. Structural prediction was confirmed by validation through physiochemical molecular and immunological characteristics to design a stable and effective vaccine that could give positive results when injected into the body of the organism. Due to this approach, computational vaccines could be an effective alternative against pathogenic microbe since they cover a large population with positive results. In the end, the given findings may help the experimental vaccinologists to develop a very potent and effective peptide-based vaccine.
PubMed: 36016188
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10081300 -
Genetics Jan 2022Cecropins are small helical secreted peptides with antimicrobial activity that are widely distributed among insects. Genes encoding Cecropins are strongly induced upon...
Cecropins are small helical secreted peptides with antimicrobial activity that are widely distributed among insects. Genes encoding Cecropins are strongly induced upon infection, pointing to their role in host defense. In Drosophila, four cecropin genes clustered in the genome (CecA1, CecA2, CecB, and CecC) are expressed upon infection downstream of the Toll and Imd pathways. In this study, we generated a short deletion ΔCecA-C removing the whole cecropin locus. Using the ΔCecA-C deficiency alone or in combination with other antimicrobial peptide (AMP) mutations, we addressed the function of Cecropins in the systemic immune response. ΔCecA-C flies were viable and resisted challenge with various microbes as wild-type. However, removing ΔCecA-C in flies already lacking 10 other AMP genes revealed a role for Cecropins in defense against Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Measurements of pathogen loads confirm that Cecropins contribute to the control of certain Gram-negative bacteria, notably Enterobacter cloacae and Providencia heimbachae. Collectively, our work provides the first genetic demonstration of a role for Cecropins in insect host defense and confirms their in vivo activity primarily against Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Generation of a fly line (ΔAMP14) that lacks 14 immune inducible AMPs provides a powerful tool to address the function of these immune effectors in host-pathogen interactions and beyond.
Topics: Cecropins
PubMed: 34791204
DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyab188