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Yang L, Weiss BL, Williams AE, Aksoy E, de Silva Orfano A, Son JH, Wu Y, Vigneron A, Karakus M, Aksoy S. Paratransgenic manipulation of a tsetse microRNA alters the physiological homeostasis of the fly's midgut environment. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009475. [PMID: 34107000 PMCID: PMC8216540 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Tsetse flies are vectors of parasitic African trypanosomes, the etiological agents of human and animal African trypanosomoses. Current disease control methods include fly-repelling pesticides, fly trapping, and chemotherapeutic treatment of infected people and animals. Inhibiting tsetse's ability to transmit trypanosomes by strengthening the fly's natural barriers can serve as an alternative approach to reduce disease. The peritrophic matrix (PM) is a chitinous and proteinaceous barrier that lines the insect midgut and serves as a protective barrier that inhibits infection with pathogens. African trypanosomes must cross tsetse's PM in order to establish an infection in the fly, and PM structural integrity negatively correlates with trypanosome infection outcomes. Bloodstream form trypanosomes shed variant surface glycoproteins (VSG) into tsetse's gut lumen early during the infection establishment, and free VSG molecules are internalized by the fly's PM-producing cardia. This process results in a reduction in the expression of a tsetse microRNA (miR275) and a sequential molecular cascade that compromises PM integrity. miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that are critical in regulating many physiological processes. In the present study, we investigated the role(s) of tsetse miR275 by developing a paratransgenic expression system that employs tsetse's facultative bacterial endosymbiont, Sodalis glossinidius, to express tandem antagomir-275 repeats (or miR275 sponges). This system induces a constitutive, 40% reduction in miR275 transcript abundance in the fly's midgut and results in obstructed blood digestion (gut weights increased by 52%), a significant increase (p-value < 0.0001) in fly survival following infection with an entomopathogenic bacteria, and a 78% increase in trypanosome infection prevalence. RNA sequencing of cardia and midgut tissues from paratransgenic tsetse confirmed that miR275 regulates processes related to the expression of PM-associated proteins and digestive enzymes as well as genes that encode abundant secretory proteins. Our study demonstrates that paratransgenesis can be employed to study microRNA regulated pathways in arthropods that house symbiotic bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liu Yang
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Brian L. Weiss
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Adeline E. Williams
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Emre Aksoy
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Alessandra de Silva Orfano
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Jae Hak Son
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Yineng Wu
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Aurelien Vigneron
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute for Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Mehmet Karakus
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Serap Aksoy
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
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Geiger A, Malele I, Abd-Alla AM, Njiokou F. Blood feeding tsetse flies as hosts and vectors of mammals-pre-adapted African Trypanosoma: current and expected research directions. BMC Microbiol 2018; 18:162. [PMID: 30470183 PMCID: PMC6251083 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-018-1281-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on the zoo-anthropophilic blood feeding tsetse flies' biology conducted, by different teams, in laboratory settings and at the level of the ecosystems- where also co-perpetuate African Trypanosoma- has allowed to unveil and characterize key features of tsetse flies' bacterial symbionts on which rely both (a) the perpetuation of the tsetse fly populations and (b) the completion of the developmental program of the African Trypanosoma. Transcriptomic analyses have already provided much information on tsetse fly genes as well as on genes of the fly symbiotic partners Sodalis glossinidius and Wigglesworthia, which account for the successful onset or not of the African Trypanosoma developmental program. In parallel, identification of the non- symbiotic bacterial communities hosted in the tsetse fly gut has recently been initiated: are briefly introduced those bacteria genera and species common to tsetse flies collected from distinct ecosystems, that could be further studied as potential biologicals preventing the onset of the African Trypanosoma developmental program. Finally, future work will need to concentrate on how to render tsetse flies refractory, and the best means to disseminate them in the field in order to establish an overall refractory fly population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Geiger
- INTERTRYP, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Imna Malele
- Vector and Vector Borne Diseases Institute, Majani Mapana, Off Korogwe Road, Box, 1026 Tanga, Tanzania
| | - Adly M Abd-Alla
- Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Vienna, Austria
| | - Flobert Njiokou
- Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon
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Uncovering Genomic Regions Associated with Trypanosoma Infections in Wild Populations of the Tsetse Fly Glossina fuscipes. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2018; 8:887-897. [PMID: 29343494 PMCID: PMC5844309 DOI: 10.1534/g3.117.300493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Vector-borne diseases are responsible for > 1 million deaths every year but genomic resources for most species responsible for their transmission are limited. This is true for neglected diseases such as sleeping sickness (Human African Trypanosomiasis), a disease caused by Trypanosoma parasites vectored by several species of tseste flies within the genus Glossina. We describe an integrative approach that identifies statistical associations between trypanosome infection status of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes (Gff) flies from Uganda, for which functional studies are complicated because the species cannot be easily maintained in laboratory colonies, and ∼73,000 polymorphic sites distributed across the genome. Then, we identify candidate genes involved in Gff trypanosome susceptibility by taking advantage of genomic resources from a closely related species, G. morsitans morsitans (Gmm). We compiled a comprehensive transcript library from 72 published and unpublished RNAseq experiments of trypanosome-infected and uninfected Gmm flies, and improved the current Gmm transcriptome assembly. This new assembly was then used to enhance the functional annotations on the Gff genome. As a consequence, we identified 56 candidate genes in the vicinity of the 18 regions associated with Trypanosoma infection status in Gff. Twenty-nine of these genes were differentially expressed (DE) among parasite-infected and uninfected Gmm, suggesting that their orthologs in Gff may correlate with disease transmission. These genes were involved in DNA regulation, neurophysiological functions, and immune responses. We highlight the power of integrating population and functional genomics from related species to enhance our understanding of the genetic basis of physiological traits, particularly in nonmodel organisms.
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Tsagmo Ngoune JM, Njiokou F, Loriod B, Kame-Ngasse G, Fernandez-Nunez N, Rioualen C, van Helden J, Geiger A. Transcriptional Profiling of Midguts Prepared from Trypanosoma/T. congolense-Positive Glossina palpalis palpalis Collected from Two Distinct Cameroonian Foci: Coordinated Signatures of the Midguts' Remodeling As T. congolense-Supportive Niches. Front Immunol 2017; 8:876. [PMID: 28804485 PMCID: PMC5532377 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Our previous transcriptomic analysis of Glossina palpalis gambiensis experimentally infected or not with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense aimed to detect differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with infection. Specifically, we selected candidate genes governing tsetse fly vector competence that could be used in the context of an anti-vector strategy, to control human and/or animal trypanosomiasis. The present study aimed to verify whether gene expression in field tsetse flies (G. p. palpalis) is modified in response to natural infection by trypanosomes (T. congolense), as reported when insectary-raised flies (G. p. gambiensis) are experimentally infected with T. b. gambiense. This was achieved using the RNA-seq approach, which identified 524 DEGs in infected vs. non-infected tsetse flies, including 285 downregulated genes and 239 upregulated genes (identified using DESeq2). Several of these genes were highly differentially expressed, with log2 fold change values in the vicinity of either +40 or −40. Downregulated genes were primarily involved in transcription/translation processes, whereas encoded upregulated genes governed amino acid and nucleotide biosynthesis pathways. The BioCyc metabolic pathways associated with infection also revealed that downregulated genes were mainly involved in fly immunity processes. Importantly, our study demonstrates that data on the molecular cross-talk between the host and the parasite (as well as the always present fly microbiome) recorded from an experimental biological model has a counterpart in field flies, which in turn validates the use of experimental host/parasite couples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean M Tsagmo Ngoune
- Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.,UMR 177, IRD-CIRAD, CIRAD TA A-17/G, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France
| | - Flobert Njiokou
- Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Béatrice Loriod
- Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, TAGC, Technological Advances for Genomics and Clinics, UMR S 1090, Marseille, France
| | | | - Nicolas Fernandez-Nunez
- Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, TAGC, Technological Advances for Genomics and Clinics, UMR S 1090, Marseille, France
| | - Claire Rioualen
- Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, TAGC, Technological Advances for Genomics and Clinics, UMR S 1090, Marseille, France
| | - Jacques van Helden
- Aix-Marseille University, INSERM, TAGC, Technological Advances for Genomics and Clinics, UMR S 1090, Marseille, France
| | - Anne Geiger
- UMR 177, IRD-CIRAD, CIRAD TA A-17/G, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France
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