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Edwards S, De Fine Licht HH. Rearing zombie flies: Laboratory culturing of the behaviourally manipulating fungal pathogen Entomophthora muscae. MethodsX 2024; 12:102523. [PMID: 38179068 PMCID: PMC10765058 DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2023.102523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Insect pathogenic fungi (IPF) and insects have ubiquitous interactions in nature. The extent of these interkingdom host-pathogen interactions are both complex and diverse. Some IPF, notably of the order Entomophthorales, manipulate their species-specific host before death. The fungus-induced altered insect behaviours are sequential and can accurately be repeatedly characterised temporally, making them a valuable model for understanding the molecular and chemical underpinnings of behaviour and host-pathogen co-evolutionary biology. Here, we present methods for the isolation and laboratory culturing of the emerging behaviourally manipulating model IPF Entomophthora muscae for experimentation.•E. muscae isolation and culturing in vitro.•Establishing and maintaining an E. muscae culture in vivo in houseflies (Musca domestica).•Controlled E. muscae infections for virulence experiments and quantification of conidia discharge per cadaver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Edwards
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, Frederiksberg C. 1871, Denmark
- Living Systems Institute, Biosciencesv, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QD, United Kingdom
| | - Henrik H. De Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, Frederiksberg C. 1871, Denmark
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2
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Elya C, Lavrentovich D, Lee E, Pasadyn C, Duval J, Basak M, Saykina V, de Bivort B. Neural mechanisms of parasite-induced summiting behavior in 'zombie' Drosophila. eLife 2023; 12:e85410. [PMID: 37184212 PMCID: PMC10259475 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
For at least two centuries, scientists have been enthralled by the "zombie" behaviors induced by mind-controlling parasites. Despite this interest, the mechanistic bases of these uncanny processes have remained mostly a mystery. Here, we leverage the Entomophthora muscae-Drosophila melanogaster "zombie fly" system to reveal the mechanistic underpinnings of summit disease, a manipulated behavior evoked by many fungal parasites. Using a high-throughput approach to measure summiting, we discovered that summiting behavior is characterized by a burst of locomotion and requires the host circadian and neurosecretory systems, specifically DN1p circadian neurons, pars intercerebralis to corpora allata projecting (PI-CA) neurons and corpora allata (CA), the latter being solely responsible for juvenile hormone (JH) synthesis and release. Using a machine learning classifier to identify summiting animals in real time, we observed that PI-CA neurons and CA appeared intact in summiting animals, despite invasion of adjacent regions of the "zombie fly" brain by E. muscae cells and extensive host tissue damage in the body cavity. The blood-brain barrier of flies late in their infection was significantly permeabilized, suggesting that factors in the hemolymph may have greater access to the central nervous system during summiting. Metabolomic analysis of hemolymph from summiting flies revealed differential abundance of several compounds compared to non-summiting flies. Transfusing the hemolymph of summiting flies into non-summiting recipients induced a burst of locomotion, demonstrating that factor(s) in the hemolymph likely cause summiting behavior. Altogether, our work reveals a neuro-mechanistic model for summiting wherein fungal cells perturb the fly's hemolymph, activating a neurohormonal pathway linking clock neurons to juvenile hormone production in the CA, ultimately inducing locomotor activity in their host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Danylo Lavrentovich
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Emily Lee
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Cassandra Pasadyn
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Jasper Duval
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Maya Basak
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Valerie Saykina
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Benjamin de Bivort
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
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Naundrup A, Bohman B, Kwadha CA, Jensen AB, Becher PG, De Fine Licht HH. Pathogenic fungus uses volatiles to entice male flies into fatal matings with infected female cadavers. THE ISME JOURNAL 2022; 16:2388-2397. [PMID: 35831484 PMCID: PMC9477817 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01284-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
To ensure dispersal, many parasites and pathogens behaviourally manipulate infected hosts. Other pathogens and certain insect-pollinated flowers use sexual mimicry and release deceptive mating signals. However, it is unusual for pathogens to rely on both behavioural host manipulation and sexual mimicry. Here, we show that the host-specific and behaviourally manipulating pathogenic fungus, Entomophthora muscae, generates a chemical blend of volatile sesquiterpenes and alters the profile of natural host cuticular hydrocarbons in infected female housefly (Musca domestica) cadavers. Healthy male houseflies respond to the fungal compounds and are enticed into mating with female cadavers. This is advantageous for the fungus as close proximity between host individuals leads to an increased probability of infection. The fungus exploits the willingness of male flies to mate and benefits from altering the behaviour of uninfected male host flies. The altered cuticular hydrocarbons and emitted volatiles thus underlie the evolution of an extended phenotypic trait.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Naundrup
- Section for Organismal Biology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, København, Denmark.
| | - Björn Bohman
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Charles A Kwadha
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Annette B Jensen
- Section for Organismal Biology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, København, Denmark
| | - Paul G Becher
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Henrik H De Fine Licht
- Section for Organismal Biology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, København, Denmark.
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Möckel L, Meusemann K, Misof B, Schwartze VU, De Fine Licht HH, Voigt K, Stielow B, de Hoog S, Beutel RG, Buellesbach J. Phylogenetic Revision and Patterns of Host Specificity in the Fungal Subphylum Entomophthoromycotina. Microorganisms 2022; 10:256. [PMID: 35208711 PMCID: PMC8879804 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10020256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The Entomophthoromycotina, a subphylum close to the root of terrestrial fungi with a bias toward insects as their primary hosts, has been notoriously difficult to categorize taxonomically for decades. Here, we reassess the phylogeny of this group based on conserved genes encoding ribosomal RNA and RNA polymerase II subunits, confirming their general monophyly, but challenging previously assumed taxonomic relationships within and between particular clades. Furthermore, for the prominent, partially human-pathogenic taxon Conidiobolus, a new type species C. coronatus is proposed in order to compensate for the unclear, presumably lost previous type species C. utriculosus Brefeld 1884. We also performed an exhaustive survey of the broad host spectrum of the Entomophthoromycotina, which is not restricted to insects alone, and investigated potential patterns of co-evolution across their megadiverse host range. Our results suggest multiple independent origins of parasitism within this subphylum and no apparent co-evolutionary events with any particular host lineage. However, Pterygota (i.e., winged insects) clearly constitute the most dominantly parasitized superordinate host group. This appears to be in accordance with an increased dispersal capacity mediated by the radiation of the Pterygota during insect evolution, which has likely greatly facilitated the spread, infection opportunities, and evolutionary divergence of the Entomophthoromycotina as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars Möckel
- Jena Microbial Resource Collection, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, 07745 Jena, Germany; (L.M.); (V.U.S.); (K.V.)
- Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
- Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany;
| | - Karen Meusemann
- Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, 53113 Bonn, Germany; (K.M.); (B.M.)
| | - Bernhard Misof
- Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, 53113 Bonn, Germany; (K.M.); (B.M.)
| | - Volker U. Schwartze
- Jena Microbial Resource Collection, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, 07745 Jena, Germany; (L.M.); (V.U.S.); (K.V.)
- Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Henrik H. De Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark;
| | - Kerstin Voigt
- Jena Microbial Resource Collection, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, 07745 Jena, Germany; (L.M.); (V.U.S.); (K.V.)
- Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Benjamin Stielow
- Center of Expertise in Mycology, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (B.S.); (S.d.H.)
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute—KNAW, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Sybren de Hoog
- Center of Expertise in Mycology, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (B.S.); (S.d.H.)
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute—KNAW, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Rolf G. Beutel
- Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany;
| | - Jan Buellesbach
- Institute for Evolution & Biodiversity, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
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Elya C, De Fine Licht HH. The genus Entomophthora: bringing the insect destroyers into the twenty-first century. IMA Fungus 2021; 12:34. [PMID: 34763728 PMCID: PMC8588673 DOI: 10.1186/s43008-021-00084-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The fungal genus Entomophthora consists of highly host-specific pathogens that cause deadly epizootics in their various insect hosts. The most well-known among these is the "zombie fly" fungus E. muscae, which, like other Entomophthora species, elicits a series of dramatic behaviors in infected hosts to promote optimal spore dispersal. Despite having been first described more than 160 years ago, there are still many open questions about Entomophthora biology, including the molecular underpinnings of host behavior manipulation and host specificity. This review provides a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of the biology of Entomophthora fungi and enumerates the most pressing outstanding questions that should be addressed in the field. We briefly review the discovery of Entomophthora and provide a summary of the 21 recognized Entomophthora species, including their type hosts, methods of transmission (ejection of spores after or before host death), and for which molecular data are available. Further, we argue that this genus is globally distributed, based on a compilation of Entomophthora records in the literature and in online naturalist databases, and likely to contain additional species. Evidence for strain-level specificity of hosts is summarized and directly compared to phylogenies of Entomophthora and the class Insecta. A detailed description of Entomophthora's life-cycle and observed manipulated behaviors is provided and used to summarize a consensus for ideal growth conditions. We discuss evidence for Entomophthora's adaptation to growth exclusively inside insects, such as producing wall-less hyphal bodies and a unique set of subtilisin-like proteases to penetrate the insect cuticle. However, we are only starting to understand the functions of unusual molecular and genomic characteristics, such as having large > 1 Gb genomes full of repetitive elements and potential functional diploidy. We argue that the high host-specificity and obligate life-style of most Entomophthora species provides ample scope for having been shaped by close coevolution with insects despite the current general lack of such evidence. Finally, we propose six major directions for future Entomophthora research and in doing so hope to provide a foundation for future studies of these fungi and their interaction with insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn Elya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Henrik H De Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
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Abstract
Temperature influences many physiological processes that govern life as a result of the thermal sensitivity of chemical reactions. The repeated evolution of endothermy and widespread behavioral thermoregulation in animals highlight the importance of elevating tissue temperature to increase the rate of chemical processes. Yet, movement performance that is robust to changes in body temperature has been observed in numerous species. This thermally robust performance appears exceptional in light of the well-documented effects of temperature on muscle contractile properties, including shortening velocity, force, power and work. Here, we propose that the thermal robustness of movements in which mechanical processes replace or augment chemical processes is a general feature of any organismal system, spanning kingdoms. The use of recoiling elastic structures to power movement in place of direct muscle shortening is one of the most thoroughly studied mechanical processes; using these studies as a basis, we outline an analytical framework for detecting thermal robustness, relying on the comparison of temperature coefficients (Q 10 values) between chemical and mechanical processes. We then highlight other biomechanical systems in which thermally robust performance that arises from mechanical processes may be identified using this framework. Studying diverse movements in the context of temperature will both reveal mechanisms underlying performance and allow the prediction of changes in performance in response to a changing thermal environment, thus deepening our understanding of the thermal ecology of many organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey P Olberding
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 321 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
| | - Stephen M Deban
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Science Center 110, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
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Lovett B, Macias A, Stajich JE, Cooley J, Eilenberg J, de Fine Licht HH, Kasson MT. Behavioral betrayal: How select fungal parasites enlist living insects to do their bidding. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16:e1008598. [PMID: 32555716 PMCID: PMC7302443 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Brian Lovett
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
| | - Angie Macias
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
| | - Jason E. Stajich
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology and Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California, Riverside, California, United States of America
| | - John Cooley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Jørgen Eilenberg
- Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Henrik H. de Fine Licht
- Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Matt T. Kasson
- Division of Plant and Soil Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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