Department of Parasitology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Diseases-vectors Control and Chinese Atomic Energy Agency Center of Excellence on Nuclear Technology Applications for Insect Control, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address:
Published: March 2024
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Article Abstract
The microbiota in the intermediate snail hosts of human schistosomes can significantly affect host biology. For decades, researchers have developed axenic snails to manipulate the symbiotic microbiota. This review summarizes the characteristics of symbiotic microbes in intermediate snail hosts and describes their interactions with snails, affecting snail growth, development, and parasite transmission ability. We focus on advances in axenic and gnotobiotic technologies for studying snail-microbe interactions and exploring the role of microbiota in snail susceptibility to Schistosoma infection. We discuss the challenges related to axenic and gnotobiotic snails, possible solutions to address these challenges, and future research directions to deepen our understanding of snail-microbiota interactions, with the aim to develop microbiota-based strategies for controlling snail populations and reducing their competence in transmitting parasites.
Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Microbienne, UMR CNRS 5557, UMR INRAE 1418, VetAgrop Sup, 69622 Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address:
Aedes albopictus mosquitoes face numerous anthropic stressors in urban areas. These xenobiotics not only impact mosquito physiology but also shape the composition of their microbiota, which play important roles in host physiological traits. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants known to alter mosquito metabolism, but no studies have yet investigated their impact on microbiota.
Over the past three decades, researchers have isolated plant mutants that show constitutively activated defence responses in the absence of pathogen infection. These mutants are called autoimmune mutants and are typically dwarf and/or bearing chlorotic/necrotic lesions. Here, from a genetic screen for Arabidopsis genes involved in maintaining a normal leaf microbiota, we identified TIP GROWTH DEFECTIVE 1 (TIP1), which encodes an S-acyltransferase, as a key player in guarding leaves against abnormal microbiota level and composition under high-humidity conditions.
Insect guts house a complex community of microbes that affect host physiology, performance and behavior. Gut microbiome research has largely focused on bacteria-host symbioses and paid less attention to other taxa, such as yeasts. We found that axenic Drosophila melanogaster (reared free of microbes) develops from egg to adult more slowly (ca.
Department of Parasitology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Diseases-vectors Control and Chinese Atomic Energy Agency Center of Excellence on Nuclear Technology Applications for Insect Control, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address:
The microbiota in the intermediate snail hosts of human schistosomes can significantly affect host biology. For decades, researchers have developed axenic snails to manipulate the symbiotic microbiota. This review summarizes the characteristics of symbiotic microbes in intermediate snail hosts and describes their interactions with snails, affecting snail growth, development, and parasite transmission ability.
Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are key pollinators that support global agriculture and are long-established models for developmental and behavioural research. Recently, they have emerged as models for studying gut microbial communities. Earlier research established that hindguts of adult worker bees harbour a conserved set of host-restricted bacterial species, each showing extensive strain variation.
