| detection of wolbachia in the tick ixodes ricinus is due to the presence of the hymenoptera endoparasitoid ixodiphagus hookeri. | the identification of micro-organisms carried by ticks is an important issue for human and animal health. in addition to their role as pathogen vectors, ticks are also the hosts for symbiotic bacteria whose impact on tick biology is poorly known. among these, the bacterium wolbachia pipientis has already been reported associated with ixodes ricinus and other tick species. however, the origins of wolbachia in ticks and their consequences on tick biology (known to be very diverse in invertebrates, ... | 2012 | 22292021 |
| species co-occurrence patterns among lyme borreliosis pathogens in the tick vector ixodes ricinus. | mixed infections have important consequences for the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions. in vector-borne diseases, interactions between pathogens occur in both the vertebrate host and the arthropod vector. spirochete bacteria belonging to the borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies complex are transmitted by ixodes ticks and cause lyme borreliosis in humans. in europe, there is a high diversity of borrelia pathogens, and the main tick vector, ixodes ricinus, is often infecte ... | 2013 | 24038700 |
| knockdown of selenocysteine-specific elongation factor in amblyomma maculatum alters the pathogen burden of rickettsia parkeri with epigenetic control by the sin3 histone deacetylase corepressor complex. | selenocysteine is the 21st naturally-occurring amino acid. selenoproteins have diverse functions and many remain uncharacterized, but they are typically associated with antioxidant activity. the incorporation of selenocysteine into the nascent polypeptide chain recodes the tga stop codon and this process depends upon a number of essential factors including the selenocysteine elongation factor (sef). the transcriptional expression of sef did not change significantly in tick midguts throughout the ... | 2013 | 24282621 |
| a nod to disease vectors: mitigation of pathogen sensing by arthropod saliva. | arthropod saliva possesses anti-hemostatic, anesthetic, and anti-inflammatory properties that facilitate feeding and, inadvertently, dissemination of pathogens. vector-borne diseases caused by these pathogens affect millions of people each year. many studies address the impact of arthropod salivary proteins on various immunological components. however, whether and how arthropod saliva counters nod-like (nlr) sensing remains elusive. nlrs are innate immune pattern recognition molecules involved i ... | 2013 | 24155744 |
| a chitin deacetylase-like protein is a predominant constituent of tick peritrophic membrane that influences the persistence of lyme disease pathogens within the vector. | ixodes scapularis is the specific arthropod vector for a number of globally prevalent infections, including lyme disease caused by the bacterium borrelia burgdorferi. a feeding-induced and acellular epithelial barrier, known as the peritrophic membrane (pm) is detectable in i. scapularis. however, whether or how the pm influences the persistence of major tick-borne pathogens, such as b. burgdorferi, remains largely unknown. mass spectrometry-based proteome analyses of isolated pm from fed ticks ... | 2013 | 24147133 |
| the ovarian transcriptome of the cattle tick, rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus, feeding upon a bovine host infected with babesia bovis. | cattle babesiosis is a tick-borne disease of cattle with the most severe form of the disease caused by the apicomplexan, babesia bovis. babesiosis is transmitted to cattle through the bite of infected cattle ticks of the genus rhipicephalus. the most prevalent species is rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus, which is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical countries of the world. the transmission of b. bovis is transovarian and a previous study of the r. microplus ovarian proteome ide ... | 2013 | 24330595 |
| is arthropod saliva the achilles' heel of vector-borne diseases? | | 2013 | 24009609 |
| potential changes in disease patterns and pharmaceutical use in response to climate change. | as climate change alters environmental conditions, the incidence and global patterns of human diseases are changing. these modifications to disease profiles and the effects upon human pharmaceutical usage are discussed. climate-related environmental changes are associated with a rise in the incidence of chronic diseases already prevalent in the northern hemisphere, for example, cardiovascular disease and mental illness, leading to greater use of associated heavily used western medications. suffe ... | 2013 | 23909463 |
| interaction of the tick immune system with transmitted pathogens. | ticks are hematophagous arachnids transmitting a wide variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, and protozoans to their vertebrate hosts. the tick vector competence has to be intimately linked to the ability of transmitted pathogens to evade tick defense mechanisms encountered on their route through the tick body comprising midgut, hemolymph, salivary glands or ovaries. tick innate immunity is, like in other invertebrates, based on an orchestrated action of humoral and cellular immune re ... | 2013 | 23875177 |
| tick vaccines and the control of tick-borne pathogens. | ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites that transmit a wide variety of pathogens to humans and animals. the incidence of tick-borne diseases has increased worldwide in both humans and domestic animals over the past years resulting in greater interest in the study of tick-host-pathogen interactions. advances in vector and pathogen genomics and proteomics have moved forward our knowledge of the vector-pathogen interactions that take place during the colonization and transmission of arthrop ... | 2013 | 23847771 |
| the 'ubiquitous' reality of vector immunology. | ubiquitination (ubiquitylation) is a common protein modification that regulates a multitude of processes within the cell. this modification is typically accomplished through the covalent binding of ubiquitin to a lysine residue onto a target protein and is catalysed by the presence of three enzymes: an activating enzyme (e1), ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (e2) and ubiquitin-protein ligase (e3). in recent years, ubiquitination has risen as a major signalling regulator of immunity and microbial pat ... | 2013 | 23433059 |
| the effects of ingested mammalian blood factors on vector arthropod immunity and physiology. | the blood feeding behavior of disease-transmitting arthropods creates a unique intersection between vertebrate and invertebrate physiology. here, we review host blood-derived factors that persist through blood digestion to affect the lifespan, reproduction, and immune responses of some of the most common arthropod vectors of human disease. | 2013 | 23370408 |
| receptors for the neuropeptides, myoinhibitory peptide and sifamide, in control of the salivary glands of the blacklegged tick ixodes scapularis. | tick salivary glands are important organs that enable the hematophagous feeding of the tick. we previously described the innervation of the salivary gland acini types ii and iii by a pair of protocerebral salivary gland neurons that produce both myoinhibitory peptide (mip) and sifamide (šimo et al., 2009b). in this study we identified authentic receptors expressed in the salivary glands for these neuropeptides. homology-based searches for these receptors in the ixodes scapularis genome sequence ... | 2013 | 23357681 |
| ontology for vector surveillance and management. | ontologies, which are made up by standardized and defined controlled vocabulary terms and their interrelationships, are comprehensive and readily searchable repositories for knowledge in a given domain. the open biomedical ontologies (obo) foundry was initiated in 2001 with the aims of becoming an "umbrella" for life-science ontologies and promoting the use of ontology development best practices. a software application (obo-edit; *.obo file format) was developed to facilitate ontology developmen ... | 2013 | 23427646 |
| the plasmodium bottleneck: malaria parasite losses in the mosquito vector. | nearly one million people are killed every year by the malaria parasite plasmodium. although the disease-causing forms of the parasite exist only in the human blood, mosquitoes of the genus anopheles are the obligate vector for transmission. here, we review the parasite life cycle in the vector and highlight the human and mosquito contributions that limit malaria parasite development in the mosquito host. we address parasite killing in its mosquito host and bottlenecks in parasite numbers that m ... | 2014 | 25185005 |
| pathogen inactivation technologies for cellular blood components: an update. | nowadays patients receiving blood components are exposed to much less transfusion-transmitted infectious diseases than three decades before when among others hiv was identified as causative agent for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and the transmission by blood or coagulation factors became evident. since that time the implementation of measures for risk prevention and safety precaution was socially and politically accepted. currently emerging pathogens like arboviruses and the well-known ... | 2014 | 25254027 |
| cloning, expression and characterization of udp-n-acetylglucosamine enolpyruvyl transferase (mura) from wolbachia endosymbiont of human lymphatic filarial parasite brugia malayi. | wolbachia, an endosymbiont of filarial nematode, is considered a promising target for treatment of lymphatic filariasis. although functional characterization of the wolbachia peptidoglycan assembly has not been fully explored, the wolbachia genome provides evidence for coding all of the genes involved in lipid ii biosynthesis, a part of peptidoglycan biosynthesis pathway. udp-n-acetylglucosamine enolpyruvyl transferase (mura) is one of the lipid ii biosynthesis pathway enzymes and it has inevita ... | 2014 | 24941309 |
| recent advances in developing insect natural products as potential modern day medicines. | except for honey as food, and silk for clothing and pollination of plants, people give little thought to the benefits of insects in their lives. this overview briefly describes significant recent advances in developing insect natural products as potential new medicinal drugs. this is an exciting and rapidly expanding new field since insects are hugely variable and have utilised an enormous range of natural products to survive environmental perturbations for 100s of millions of years. there is th ... | 2014 | 24883072 |
| comparative bioinformatics, temporal and spatial expression analyses of ixodes scapularis organic anion transporting polypeptides. | organic anion-transporting polypeptides (oatps) are an integral part of the detoxification mechanism in vertebrates and invertebrates. these cell surface proteins are involved in mediating the sodium-independent uptake and/or distribution of a broad array of organic amphipathic compounds and xenobiotic drugs. this study describes bioinformatics and biological characterization of 9 oatp sequences in the ixodes scapularis genome. these sequences have been annotated on the basis of 12 transmembrane ... | 2014 | 24582512 |
| transmission-blocking antibodies against mosquito c-type lectins for dengue prevention. | c-type lectins are a family of proteins with carbohydrate-binding activity. several c-type lectins in mammals or arthropods are employed as receptors or attachment factors to facilitate flavivirus invasion. we previously identified a c-type lectin in aedes aegypti, designated as mosquito galactose specific c-type lectin-1 (mosgctl-1), facilitating the attachment of west nile virus (wnv) on the cell membrane. here, we first identified that 9 a. aegypti mosgctl genes were key susceptibility factor ... | 2014 | 24550728 |
| dengue virus infection of aedes aegypti requires a putative cysteine rich venom protein. | dengue virus (denv) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes serious human disease and mortality worldwide. there is no specific antiviral therapy or vaccine for denv infection. alterations in gene expression during denv infection of the mosquito and the impact of these changes on virus infection are important events to investigate in hopes of creating new treatments and vaccines. we previously identified 203 genes that were ≥5-fold differentially upregulated during flavivirus infection of the ... | 2015 | 26491875 |
| an insight into the functional role of thioredoxin reductase, a selenoprotein, in maintaining normal native microbiota in the gulf coast tick (amblyomma maculatum). | tick selenoproteins have been associated with antioxidant activity in ticks. thioredoxin reductase (trxr), also a selenoprotein, belongs to the pyridine nucleotide-disulphide oxidoreductase family of proteins and is an important antioxidant. molecular interactions between native microbiota and tick hosts have barely been investigated to date. in this study, we determined the functional role of trxr in tick feeding and in maintenance of the native microbial community. trxr transcript levels remai ... | 2015 | 26184979 |
| nuclease tudor-sn is involved in tick dsrna-mediated rna interference and feeding but not in defense against flaviviral or anaplasma phagocytophilum rickettsial infection. | tudor staphylococcal nuclease (tudor-sn) and argonaute (ago) are conserved components of the basic rna interference (rnai) machinery with a variety of functions including immune response and gene regulation. the rnai machinery has been characterized in tick vectors of human and animal diseases but information is not available on the role of tudor-sn in tick rnai and other cellular processes. our hypothesis is that tick tudor-sn is part of the rnai machinery and may be involved in innate immune r ... | 2015 | 26186700 |
| movement of regulatory rna between animal cells. | recent studies suggest that rna can move from one cell to another and regulate genes through specific base-pairing. mechanisms that modify or select rna for secretion from a cell are unclear. secreted rna can be stable enough to be detected in the extracellular environment and can enter the cytosol of distant cells to regulate genes. mechanisms that import rna into the cytosol of an animal cell can enable uptake of rna from many sources including other organisms. this role of rna is akin to that ... | 2015 | 26138457 |
| infectious uveitis. | infectious uveitis is one of the most common and visually devastating causes of uveitis in the us and worldwide. this review provides a summary of the identification, treatment, and complications associated with certain forms of viral, bacterial, fungal, helminthic, and parasitic uveitis. in particular, this article reviews the literature on identification and treatment of acute retinal necrosis due to herpes simplex virus, varicella virus, and cytomegalovirus. while no agreed-upon treatment has ... | 2015 | 26618074 |
| abstracts from the 38th annual meeting of the society of general internal medicine. | | 2015 | 25869016 |
| anopheles midgut epithelium evades human complement activity by capturing factor h from the blood meal. | hematophagous vectors strictly require ingesting blood from their hosts to complete their life cycles. exposure of the alimentary canal of these vectors to the host immune effectors necessitates efficient counteractive measures by hematophagous vectors. the anopheles mosquito transmitting the malaria parasite is an example of hematophagous vectors that within seconds can ingest human blood double its weight. the innate immune defense mechanisms, like the complement system, in the human blood sho ... | 2015 | 25679788 |
| systemically and cutaneously distributed ectoparasiticides: a review of the efficacy against ticks and fleas on dogs. | acaricidal (tick) and insecticidal (flea) efficacy of systemically and cutaneously distributed ectoparasiticide products for dogs are compared based on permethrin and fluralaner as representative molecules. results of efficacy studies against fleas and ticks are reviewed that show generally good to excellent results. both externally and systemically distributed treatments have benefits and weaknesses in potentially preventing pathogen transmission by these arthropod vectors.four general properti ... | 2016 | 27502490 |
| vaccines and immunization strategies for dengue prevention. | dengue is currently the most significant arboviral disease afflicting tropical and sub-tropical countries worldwide. dengue vaccines, such as the multivalent attenuated, chimeric, dna and inactivated vaccines, have been developed to prevent dengue infection in humans, and they function predominantly by stimulating immune responses against the dengue virus (denv) envelope (e) and nonstructural-1 proteins (ns1). of these vaccines, a live attenuated chimeric tetravalent denv vaccine developed by sa ... | 2016 | 27436365 |
| disease vectors in the era of next generation sequencing. | almost 20 % of all infectious human diseases are vector borne and, together, are responsible for over one million deaths per annum. over the past decade, the decreasing costs of massively parallel sequencing technologies have facilitated the agnostic interrogation of insect vector genomes, giving medical entomologists access to an ever-expanding volume of high-quality genomic and transcriptomic data. in this review, we highlight how genomics resources have provided new insights into the physiolo ... | 2016 | 27154554 |
| genomic insights into the ixodes scapularis tick vector of lyme disease. | ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. we describe the 2.1 gbp nuclear genome of the tick, ixodes scapularis (say), which vectors pathogens that cause lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. the large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive dna, new lineages of retro-transposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. annotation of scaffolds representing ∼57% of the ge ... | 2016 | 26856261 |
| utility of humanized blt mice for analysis of dengue virus infection and antiviral drug testing. | dengue virus (denv) is the cause of a potentially life-threatening disease that affects millions of people worldwide. the lack of a small animal model that mimics the symptoms of denv infection in humans has slowed the understanding of viral pathogenesis and the development of therapies and vaccines. here, we investigated the use of humanized "bone marrow liver thymus" (blt) mice as a model for immunological studies and assayed their applicability for preclinical testing of antiviral compounds. ... | 2014 | 24335303 |
| cellular function and molecular structure of ecto-nucleotidases. | ecto-nucleotidases play a pivotal role in purinergic signal transmission. they hydrolyze extracellular nucleotides and thus can control their availability at purinergic p2 receptors. they generate extracellular nucleosides for cellular reuptake and salvage via nucleoside transporters of the plasma membrane. the extracellular adenosine formed acts as an agonist of purinergic p1 receptors. they also can produce and hydrolyze extracellular inorganic pyrophosphate that is of major relevance in the c ... | 2012 | 22555564 |
| emerging and reemerging neglected tropical diseases: a review of key characteristics, risk factors, and the policy and innovation environment. | in global health, critical challenges have arisen from infectious diseases, including the emergence and reemergence of old and new infectious diseases. emergence and reemergence are accelerated by rapid human development, including numerous changes in demographics, populations, and the environment. this has also led to zoonoses in the changing human-animal ecosystem, which are impacted by a growing globalized society where pathogens do not recognize geopolitical borders. within this context, neg ... | 2014 | 25278579 |
| abstracts of the hiv drug therapy in the americas 8-10 may 2014, rio de janeiro, brazil. | | 2014 | 24815847 |
| zika virus: an update on epidemiology, pathology, molecular biology, and animal model. | zika virus (zikv) was first described in 1947, and became a health emergency problem in 2016 when its association with fetal microcephaly cases was confirmed by centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) in the united states. to date, zikv infection has been documented in 66 countries. zikv is recognized as a neurotropic virus and numerous diseases manifested in multiple neurological disorders have been described, mainly in countries that have been exposed to zikv after the 2007 outbreak i ... | 2016 | 27124623 |
| magnitude of neglected tropical diseases in indonesia at postmillennium development goals era. | the world will enter the postmillennium development goals 2015 era. the achievements of the millennium development goals (mdgs) as a global development target need to be evaluated. a sustainable new reasonable target is important for neglected tropical diseases (ntd) elimination in indonesia. this review describes the ntd situation in indonesia and highlights problems beneath the ntd transmission. multidisciplinary approach is a promising strategy to help the marginalized people. | 2016 | 27190525 |
| the untapped cell biology of neglected tropical diseases. | the world health organization lists a constellation of 17 tropical diseases that afflict approximately one in six individuals on the planet and, until recently, few resources have been devoted to the treatment and eradication of those diseases. they are often referred to as the diseases of the "bottom billion," because they are most prevalent among the poorest individuals in impoverished tropical nations. however, the few studies that have been performed reveal an extraordinary world of molecula ... | 2016 | 26915691 |
| yellow fever and max theiler: the only nobel prize for a virus vaccine. | in 1951, max theiler of the rockefeller foundation received the nobel prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of an effective vaccine against yellow fever--a discovery first reported in the jem 70 years ago. this was the first, and so far the only, nobel prize given for the development of a virus vaccine. recently released nobel archives now reveal how the advances in the yellow fever vaccine field were evaluated more than 50 years ago, and how this led to a prize for max theiler. | 2007 | 18039952 |
| a case of mixed infections in a patient presenting with acute febrile illness in the tropics. | concurrent infections with more than one etiological agent can result in an illness with overlapping symptoms, resulting in a situation where the diagnosis and management of such a patient could be challenging. we report a case of vivax malaria in a patient who was also serologically positive for leptospirosis and dengue. | 2013 | 23533853 |
| detection of dengue, west nile virus, rickettsiosis and leptospirosis by a new real-time pcr strategy. | dengue virus (denv) infection causes sudden fever along with several nonspecific signs and symptoms and in severe cases, death. denv is transmitted to people by aedes aegypti and ae. albopictus mosquitoes, whose populations increase during rainy season. west nile virus (wnv), rickettsia spp. and leptospira spp. are fever-causing pathogens that share many of the initial symptoms of denv infection and also thrive in the rainy season. outbreaks in some regions may be due to any of these pathogens t ... | 2016 | 27350908 |
| functional promiscuity of homologues of the bacterial arsa atpases. | the arsa atpase of e. coli plays an essential role in arsenic detoxification. published evidence implicates arsa in the energization of as(iii) efflux via the formation of an oxyanion-translocating complex with arsb. in addition, eukaryotic arsa homologues have several recognized functions unrelated to arsenic resistance. by aligning arsa homologues, constructing phylogenetic trees, examining arsa encoding operons, and estimating the probable coevolution of these homologues with putative transpo ... | 2010 | 20981284 |
| oviposition responses of aedes mosquitoes to bacterial isolates from attractive bamboo infusions. | the mosquitoes aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus are vectors of pathogenic viruses that cause major human illnesses including dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya. both mosquito species are expanding their geographic distributions and now occur worldwide in temperate and tropical climates. collection of eggs in oviposition traps (ovitraps) is commonly used for monitoring and surveillance of container-inhabiting aedes populations by public health agencies charged with managing mosquito-transmitt ... | 2015 | 26399712 |
| neurologic aspects of infections in international travelers. | as international travel for business and pleasure becomes part of contemporary lifestyle, the clinician today is confronted with an increasing number of travelers returning ill with unfamiliar syndromes. the physician will encounter a myriad of patients with exotic infections, emerging infectious diseases, or resurgent old-world infections. | 2005 | 15631642 |
| comparison of plants used for skin and stomach problems in trinidad and tobago with asian ethnomedicine. | this paper provides a preliminary evaluation of fifty-eight ethnomedicinal plants used in trinidad and tobago for skin problems, stomach problems, pain and internal parasites for safety and possible efficacy. thirty respondents, ten of whom were male were interviewed from september 1996 to september 2000 on medicinal plant use for health problems. the respondents were obtained by snowball sampling, and were found in thirteen different sites, 12 in trinidad and one in tobago. the uses are compare ... | 2007 | 17207273 |
| drosophila vitelline membrane assembly: a critical role for an evolutionarily conserved cysteine in the "vm domain" of sv23. | the vitelline membrane (vm), the oocyte proximal layer of the drosophila eggshell, contains four major proteins (vmps) that possess a highly conserved "vm domain" which includes three precisely spaced, evolutionarily conserved, cysteines (cx⁷cx⁸c). focusing on sv23, this study showed that the three cysteines are not functionally equivalent. while substitution mutations at the first (c123s) or third (c140s) cysteines were tolerated, females with a substitution at the second position (c131s) were ... | 2010 | 20832396 |
| methyl eugenol: its occurrence, distribution, and role in nature, especially in relation to insect behavior and pollination. | this review discusses the occurrence and distribution (within a plant) of methyl eugenol in different plant species (> 450) from 80 families spanning many plant orders, as well as various roles this chemical plays in nature, especially in the interactions between tephritid fruit flies and plants. | 2012 | 22963669 |
| identification of the main venom protein components of aphidius ervi, a parasitoid wasp of the aphid model acyrthosiphon pisum. | endoparasitoid wasps are important natural enemies of the widely distributed aphid pests and are mainly used as biological control agents. however, despite the increased interest on aphid interaction networks, only sparse information is available on the factors used by parasitoids to modulate the aphid physiology. our aim was here to identify the major protein components of the venom injected at oviposition by aphidius ervi to ensure successful development in its aphid host, acyrthosiphon pisum. | 2014 | 24884493 |
| nanoparticles as potential new generation broad spectrum antimicrobial agents. | the rapid emergence of antimicrobial resistant strains to conventional antimicrobial agents has complicated and prolonged infection treatment and increased mortality risk globally. furthermore, some of the conventional antimicrobial agents are unable to cross certain cell membranes thus, restricting treatment of intracellular pathogens. therefore, the disease-causing-organisms tend to persist in these cells. however, the emergence of nanoparticle (np) technology has come with the promising broad ... | 2015 | 26329777 |
| structure and functional diversity of gcn5-related n-acetyltransferases (gnat). | general control non-repressible 5 (gcn5)-related n-acetyltransferases (gnat) catalyze the transfer of an acyl moiety from acyl coenzyme a (acyl-coa) to a diverse group of substrates and are widely distributed in all domains of life. this review of the currently available data acquired on gnat enzymes by a combination of structural, mutagenesis and kinetic methods summarizes the key similarities and differences between several distinctly different families within the gnat superfamily, with an emp ... | 2016 | 27367672 |
| overview of zika virus (zikv) infection in regards to the brazilian epidemic. | zika virus (zikv), a mosquito-borne flavivirus, belongs to the flaviviridae family, genus flavivirus. zikv was initially isolated in 1947 from a sentinel monkey in the zika forest, uganda. little clinical importance was attributed to zikv, once only few symptomatic cases were reported in some african and southeast asiatic countries. this situation changed in 2007, when a large outbreak was registered on the yap island, micronesia, caused by the asian zikv lineage. between 2013 and 2014, zikv spr ... | 2016 | 27143174 |
| zika: the origin and spread of a mosquito-borne virus. | to describe the temporal and geographical distribution of zika virus infection and associated neurological disorders, from 1947 to 1 february 2016, when zika became a public health emergency of international concern (pheic). | 2016 | 27708473 |
| genomics against flatulence. | | 2007 | 17635535 |
| a modern understanding of the traditional and nontraditional biological functions of angiotensin-converting enzyme. | angiotensin-converting enzyme (ace) is a zinc-dependent peptidase responsible for converting angiotensin i into the vasoconstrictor angiotensin ii. however, ace is a relatively nonspecific peptidase that is capable of cleaving a wide range of substrates. because of this, ace and its peptide substrates and products affect many physiologic processes, including blood pressure control, hematopoiesis, reproduction, renal development, renal function, and the immune response. the defining feature of ac ... | 2013 | 23257181 |
| enabling technologies in the life sciences. abstracts of an international symposium by the association of biomolecular resource facilities. february 9-12, 2008. salt lake city, utah, usa. | | 2008 | 18300397 |
| cloning, expression, sequence analysis and homology modeling of the prolyl endoprotease from eurygaster integriceps puton. | eurygaster integriceps puton, commonly known as sunn pest, is a major pest of wheat in northern africa, the middle east and eastern europe. this insect injects a prolyl endoprotease into the wheat, destroying the gluten. the purpose of this study was to clone the full length cdna of the sunn pest prolyl endoprotease (sppep) for expression in e. coli and to compare the amino acid sequence of the enzyme to other known peps in both phylogeny and potential tertiary structure. sequence analysis shows ... | 2014 | 26462938 |
| the waal gene mutation compromised the inhabitation of enterobacter sp. ag1 in the mosquito gut environment. | the mosquito gut harbors a variety of bacteria that are dynamically associated with mosquitoes in various contexts. however, little is known about bacterial factors that affect bacterial inhabitation in the gut microbial community. enterobacter sp. ag1 is a predominant gram negative bacterium in the mosquito midgut. | 2015 | 26306887 |
| the dimerization state of the mammalian high mobility group protein at-hook 2 (hmga2). | the mammalian high mobility group protein at-hook 2 (hmga2) is a chromosomal architectural transcription factor involved in cell transformation and oncogenesis. it consists of three positively charged "at-hooks" and a negatively charged c-terminus. sequence analyses, circular dichroism experiments, and gel-filtration studies showed that hmga2, in the native state, does not have a defined secondary or tertiary structure. surprisingly, using combined approaches of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) ... | 2015 | 26114780 |
| bacterial feeding induces changes in immune-related gene expression and has trans-generational impacts in the cabbage looper (trichoplusia ni). | poly- and oligophagous insects are able to feed on various host plants with a wide range of defense strategies. however, diverse food plants are also inhabited by microbiota differing in quality and quantity, posing a potential challenge for immune system mediated homeostasis in the herbivore. recent studies highlight the complex interactions between environmentally encountered microorganisms and herbivorous insects, pointing to a potential adaptational alteration of the insects' physiology. we ... | 2009 | 19422678 |
| the wolbachia wo bacteriophage proteome in the aedes albopictus c/wstr1 cell line: evidence for lytic activity? | wolbachia pipientis (rickettsiales), an obligate intracellular alphaproteobacterium in insects, manipulates host reproduction to maximize invasion of uninfected insect populations. modification of host population structure has potential applications for control of pest species, particularly if wolbachia can be maintained, manipulated, and genetically engineered in vitro. although wolbachia maintains an obligate mutualism with genome stability in nematodes, arthropods can be co-infected with dist ... | 2015 | 26427709 |
| discovery of a metabolic alternative to the classical mevalonate pathway. | eukarya, archaea, and some bacteria encode all or part of the essential mevalonate (mva) metabolic pathway clinically modulated using statins. curiously, two components of the mva pathway are often absent from archaeal genomes. the search for these missing elements led to the discovery of isopentenyl phosphate kinase (ipk), one of two activities necessary to furnish the universal five-carbon isoprenoid building block, isopentenyl diphosphate (ipp). unexpectedly, we now report functional ipks als ... | 2013 | 24327557 |
| asap: a resource for annotating, curating, comparing, and disseminating genomic data. | asap is a comprehensive web-based system for community genome annotation and analysis. asap is being used for a large-scale effort to augment and curate annotations for genomes of enterobacterial pathogens and for additional genome sequences. new tools, such as the genome alignment program mauve, have been incorporated into asap in order to improve display and analysis of related genomes. recent improvements to the database and challenges for future development of the system are discussed. asap ... | 2006 | 16381899 |
| lateral gene transfer between prokaryotes and multicellular eukaryotes: ongoing and significant? | the expansion of genome sequencing projects has produced accumulating evidence for lateral transfer of genes between prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes. however, it remains controversial whether these genes are of functional importance in their recipient host. nikoh and nakabachi, in a recent paper in bmc biology, take a first step and show that two genes of bacterial origin are highly expressed in the pea aphid acyrthosiphon pisum. active gene expression of transferred genes is supported by thr ... | 2009 | 19416510 |
| immunity and other defenses in pea aphids, acyrthosiphon pisum. | recent genomic analyses of arthropod defense mechanisms suggest conservation of key elements underlying responses to pathogens, parasites and stresses. at the center of pathogen-induced immune responses are signaling pathways triggered by the recognition of fungal, bacterial and viral signatures. these pathways result in the production of response molecules, such as antimicrobial peptides and lysozymes, which degrade or destroy invaders. using the recently sequenced genome of the pea aphid (acyr ... | 2010 | 20178569 |
| bacterial symbionts in insects or the story of communities affecting communities. | bacterial symbionts are widespread in insects and other animals. most of them are predominantly vertically transmitted, along with their hosts' genes, and thus extend the heritable genetic variation present in one species. these passengers have a variety of repercussions on the host's phenotypes: besides the cost imposed on the host for maintaining the symbiont population, they can provide fitness advantages to the host or manipulate the host's reproduction. we argue that insect symbioses are id ... | 2011 | 21444313 |
| horizontal gene transfer between bacteria and animals. | horizontal gene transfer is increasingly described between bacteria and animals. such transfers that are vertically inherited have the potential to influence the evolution of animals. one classic example is the transfer of dna from mitochondria and chloroplasts to the nucleus after the acquisition of these organelles by eukaryotes. even today, many of the described instances of bacteria-to-animal transfer occur as part of intimate relationships such as those of endosymbionts and their invertebra ... | 2011 | 21334091 |
| rather than by direct acquisition via lateral gene transfer, ghf5 cellulases were passed on from early pratylenchidae to root-knot and cyst nematodes. | plant parasitic nematodes are unusual metazoans as they are equipped with genes that allow for symbiont-independent degradation of plant cell walls. among the cell wall-degrading enzymes, glycoside hydrolase family 5 (ghf5) cellulases are relatively well characterized, especially for high impact parasites such as root-knot and cyst nematodes. interestingly, ancestors of extant nematodes most likely acquired these ghf5 cellulases from a prokaryote donor by one or multiple lateral gene transfer ev ... | 2012 | 23171084 |
| deep sequencing of the transcriptomes of soybean aphid and associated endosymbionts. | the soybean aphid has significantly impacted soybean production in the u.s. transcriptomic analyses were conducted for further insight into leads for potential novel management strategies. | 2012 | 22984624 |
| endosymbiont tolerance and control within insect hosts. | bacterial endosymbioses are very common in insects and can range from obligate to facultative as well as from mutualistic to pathogenic associations. several recent studies provide new insight into how endosymbionts manage to establish chronic infections of their hosts without being eliminated by the host immune system. endosymbiont tolerance may be achieved either by specific bacterial adaptations or by host measurements shielding bacteria from innate defense mechanisms. nevertheless, insect ho ... | 2012 | 26466544 |
| the central role of the host cell in symbiotic nitrogen metabolism. | symbiotic nitrogen recycling enables animals to thrive on nitrogen-poor diets and environments. it traditionally refers to the utilization of animal waste nitrogen by symbiotic micro-organisms to synthesize essential amino acids (eaas), which are translocated back to the animal host. we applied metabolic modelling and complementary metabolite profiling to investigate nitrogen recycling in the symbiosis between the pea aphid and the intracellular bacterium buchnera, which synthesizes eaas. the re ... | 2012 | 22513857 |
| microbial symbionts: a resource for the management of insect-related problems. | microorganisms establish with their animal hosts close interactions. they are involved in many aspects of the host life, physiology and evolution, including nutrition, reproduction, immune homeostasis, defence and speciation. thus, the manipulation and the exploitation the microbiota could result in important practical applications for the development of strategies for the management of insect-related problems. this approach, defined as 'microbial resource management' (mrm), has been applied suc ... | 2012 | 22103294 |
| proteomic investigation of aphid honeydew reveals an unexpected diversity of proteins. | aphids feed on the phloem sap of plants, and are the most common honeydew-producing insects. while aphid honeydew is primarily considered to comprise sugars and amino acids, its protein diversity has yet to be documented. here, we report on the investigation of the honeydew proteome from the pea aphid acyrthosiphon pisum. using a two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2d-dige) approach, more than 140 spots were isolated, demonstrating that aphid honeydew also represents a diverse s ... | 2013 | 24086359 |
| diversity and function of bacterial microbiota in the mosquito holobiont. | mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae) have been shown to host diverse bacterial communities that vary depending on the sex of the mosquito, the developmental stage, and ecological factors. some studies have suggested a potential role of microbiota in the nutritional, developmental and reproductive biology of mosquitoes. here, we present a review of the diversity and functions of mosquito-associated bacteria across multiple variation factors, emphasizing recent findings. mosquito microbiota is consider ... | 2013 | 23688194 |
| symbiont-mediated functions in insect hosts. | the bacterial endosymbionts occur in a diverse array of insect species and are usually rely within the vertical transmission from mothers to offspring. in addition to primary symbionts, plant sap-sucking insects may also harbor several diverse secondary symbionts. bacterial symbionts play a prominent role in insect nutritional ecology by aiding in digestion of food or supplementing nutrients that insect hosts can't obtain sufficient amounts from a restricted diet of plant phloem. currently, seve ... | 2013 | 23710278 |
| endosymbiotic bacteria in insects: guardians of the immune system? | insects have evolved obligate, mutualistic interactions with bacteria without further transmission to other eukaryotic organisms. such long-term obligate partnerships between insects and bacteria have a profound effect on various physiological functions of the host. here we provide an overview of the effects of endosymbiotic bacteria on the insect immune system as well as on the immune response of insects to pathogenic infections. potential mechanisms through which endosymbionts can affect the a ... | 2013 | 23508299 |
| multiorganismal insects: diversity and function of resident microorganisms. | all insects are colonized by microorganisms on the insect exoskeleton, in the gut and hemocoel, and within insect cells. the insect microbiota is generally different from microorganisms in the external environment, including ingested food. specifically, certain microbial taxa are favored by the conditions and resources in the insect habitat, by their tolerance of insect immunity, and by specific mechanisms for their transmission. the resident microorganisms can promote insect fitness by contribu ... | 2014 | 25341109 |
| diversification of mif immune regulators in aphids: link with agonistic and antagonistic interactions. | the widespread use of genome sequencing provided evidences for the high degree of conservation in innate immunity signalling pathways across animal phyla. however, the functioning and evolutionary history of immune-related genes remains unknown for most invertebrate species. a striking observation coming from the analysis of the pea aphid acyrthosiphon pisum genome is the absence of important conserved genes known to be involved in the antimicrobial responses of other insects. this reduction in ... | 2014 | 25193628 |
| depletion of host cell riboflavin reduces wolbachia levels in cultured mosquito cells. | wolbachia is an obligate intracellular alphaproteobacterium that occurs in arthropod and nematode hosts. wolbachia presumably provides a fitness benefit to its hosts, but the basis for its retention and spread in host populations remains unclear. wolbachia genomes retain biosynthetic pathways for some vitamins, and the possibility that these vitamins benefit host cells provides a potential means of selecting for wolbachia-infected cell lines. to explore whether riboflavin produced by wolbachia i ... | 2014 | 24789726 |
| the molecular basis of bacterial-insect symbiosis. | insects provide experimentally tractable and cost-effective model systems to investigate the molecular basis of animal-bacterial interactions. recent research is revealing the central role of the insect innate immune system, especially anti-microbial peptides and reactive oxygen species, in regulating the abundance and composition of the microbiota in various insects, including drosophila and the mosquitoes aedes and anopheles. interactions between the immune system and microbiota are, however, ... | 2014 | 24735869 |
| location of symbionts in the whitefly bemisia tabaci affects their densities during host development and environmental stress. | bacterial symbionts often enhance the physiological capabilities of their arthropod hosts and enable their hosts to expand into formerly unavailable niches, thus leading to biological diversification. many arthropods, including the worldwide invasive whitefly bemisia tabaci, have individuals simultaneously infected with symbionts of multiple genera that occur in different locations in the host. this study examined the population dynamics of symbionts that are located in different areas within b. ... | 2014 | 24632746 |
| the genome of diuraphis noxia, a global aphid pest of small grains. | the russian wheat aphid, diuraphis noxia kurdjumov, is one of the most important pests of small grains throughout the temperate regions of the world. this phytotoxic aphid causes severe systemic damage symptoms in wheat, barley, and other small grains as a direct result of the salivary proteins it injects into the plant while feeding. | 2015 | 26044338 |
| mutualism breakdown by amplification of wolbachia genes. | most insect species are associated with vertically transmitted endosymbionts. because of the mode of transmission, the fitness of these symbionts is dependent on the fitness of the hosts. therefore, these endosymbionts need to control their proliferation in order to minimize their cost for the host. the genetic bases and mechanisms of this regulation remain largely undetermined. the maternally inherited bacteria of the genus wolbachia are the most common endosymbionts of insects, providing some ... | 2015 | 25668031 |
| annotation of the asian citrus psyllid genome reveals a reduced innate immune system. | citrus production worldwide is currently facing significant losses due to citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing. the citrus greening bacteria, candidatus liberibacter asiaticus (clas), is a persistent propagative pathogen transmitted by the asian citrus psyllid, diaphorina citri kuwayama (hemiptera: liviidae). hemipterans characterized to date lack a number of insect immune genes, including those associated with the imd pathway targeting gram-negative bacteria. the d. citri draft ... | 2016 | 27965582 |
| disruption of phenylalanine hydroxylase reduces adult lifespan and fecundity, and impairs embryonic development in parthenogenetic pea aphids. | phenylalanine hydroxylase (pah) is a key tyrosine-biosynthetic enzyme involved in neurological and melanin-associated physiological processes. despite extensive investigations in holometabolous insects, a pah contribution to insect embryonic development has never been demonstrated. here, we have characterized, for the first time, the pah gene in a hemimetabolous insect, the aphid acyrthosiphon pisum. phylogenetic and sequence analyses confirmed that appah is closely related to metazoan pah, exhi ... | 2016 | 27694983 |
| convergent evolution of trna gene targeting preferences in compact genomes. | in gene-dense genomes, mobile elements are confronted with highly selective pressure to amplify without causing excessive damage to the host. the targeting of trna genes as potentially safe integration sites has been developed by retrotransposons in various organisms such as the social amoeba dictyostelium discoideum and the yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae. in d. discoideum, trna gene-targeting retrotransposons have expanded to approximately 3 % of the genome. recently obtained genome sequences o ... | 2016 | 27583033 |
| small rna regulators of plant-hemipteran interactions: micromanagers with versatile roles. | non-coding small rnas (srnas) in plants have important roles in regulating biological processes, including development, reproduction, and stress responses. recent research indicates significant roles for srna-mediated gene silencing during plant-hemipteran interactions that involve all three of these biological processes. plant responses to hemipteran feeding are determined by changes in the host transcriptome that appear to be fine-tuned by srnas. the role of srna in plant defense responses is ... | 2016 | 27625654 |
| novel insights into insect-microbe interactions-role of epigenomics and small rnas. | it has become increasingly clear that microbes form close associations with the vast majority of animal species, especially insects. in fact, an array of diverse microbes is known to form shared metabolic pathways with their insect hosts. a growing area of research in insect-microbe interactions, notably for hemipteran insects and their mutualistic symbionts, is to elucidate the regulation of this inter-domain metabolism. this review examines two new emerging mechanisms of gene regulation and th ... | 2016 | 27540386 |
| heat sensitivity of wmel wolbachia during aedes aegypti development. | the wmel strain of wolbachia bacteria is known to prevent dengue and zika virus transmission in the mosquito vector aedes aegypti. accordingly, the release of wmel-infected a. aegypti in endemic regions has been recommended by the world health organization as a potential strategy for controlling dengue and zika outbreaks. however, the utility of this approach could be limited if high temperatures in the aquatic habitats where a. aegypti develop are detrimental to wolbachia. we exposed wmel-infec ... | 2016 | 27459519 |
| de novo transcriptome assembly of the grapevine phylloxera allows identification of genes differentially expressed between leaf- and root-feeding forms. | grapevine phylloxera, an insect related to true aphids, is a major historic pest of viticulture only controlled through the selection of resistant rootstocks or through quarantine regulations where grapevine is cultivated own-rooted. transcriptomic data could help understand the bases of its original life-traits, including a striking case of polyphenism, with forms feeding on roots and forms feeding in leaf-galls. comparisons with true aphids (for which complete genomes have been sequenced) shou ... | 2016 | 26968158 |
| evolutionary history of the photolyase/cryptochrome superfamily in eukaryotes. | photolyases and cryptochromes are evolutionarily related flavoproteins, which however perform distinct physiological functions. photolyases (phr) are evolutionarily ancient enzymes. they are activated by light and repair dna damage caused by uv radiation. although cryptochromes share structural similarity with dna photolyases, they lack dna repair activity. cryptochrome (cry) is one of the key elements of the circadian system in animals. in plants, cry acts as a blue light receptor to entrain ci ... | 2015 | 26352435 |
| the tektin family of microtubule-stabilizing proteins. | tektins are insoluble alpha-helical proteins essential for the construction of cilia and flagella and are found throughout the eukaryotes apart from higher plants. being almost universal but still fairly free to mutate, their coding sequences have proved useful for estimating the evolutionary relationships between closely related species. their protein molecular structure, typically consisting of four coiled-coil rod segments connected by linkers, resembles that of intermediate filament (if) pro ... | 2008 | 18671835 |
| the evolution of new enzyme function: lessons from xenobiotic metabolizing bacteria versus insecticide-resistant insects. | here, we compare the evolutionary routes by which bacteria and insects have evolved enzymatic processes for the degradation of four classes of synthetic chemical insecticide. for insects, the selective advantage of such degradative activities is survival on exposure to the insecticide, whereas for the bacteria the advantage is simply a matter of access to additional sources of nutrients. nevertheless, bacteria have evolved highly efficient enzymes from a wide variety of enzyme families, whereas ... | 2011 | 25567970 |
| the components of the daphnia pulex immune system as revealed by complete genome sequencing. | branchiopod crustaceans in the genus daphnia are key model organisms for investigating interactions between genes and the environment. one major theme of research on daphnia species has been the evolution of resistance to pathogens and parasites, but lack of knowledge of the daphnia immune system has limited the study of immune responses. here we provide a survey of the immune-related genome of d. pulex, derived from the newly completed genome sequence. genes likely to be involved in innate immu ... | 2009 | 19386092 |
| medicinal properties of 'true' cinnamon (cinnamomum zeylanicum): a systematic review. | in traditional medicine cinnamon is considered a remedy for respiratory, digestive and gynaecological ailments. in-vitro and in-vivo studies from different parts of the world have demonstrated numerous beneficial medicinal effects of cinnamomum zeylanicum (cz). this paper aims to systematically review the scientific literature and provide a comprehensive summary on the potential medicinal benefits of cz. | 2013 | 24148965 |
| transmission of pathogens by stomoxys flies (diptera, muscidae): a review. | stomoxys flies are mechanical vectors of pathogens present in the blood and skin of their animal hosts, especially livestock, but occasionally humans. in livestock, their direct effects are disturbance, skin lesions, reduction of food intake, stress, blood loss, and a global immunosuppressive effect. they also induce the gathering of animals for mutual protection; meanwhile they favor development of pathogens in the hosts and their transmission. their indirect effect is the mechanical transmissi ... | 2013 | 23985165 |
| molecular characterization of an rsmd-like rrna methyltransferase from the wolbachia endosymbiont of brugia malayi and antifilarial activity of specific inhibitors of the enzyme. | the endosymbiotic organism wolbachia is an attractive antifilarial drug target. here we report on the cloning and expression of an rsmd-like rrna methyltransferase from the wolbachia endosymbiont of brugia malayi, its molecular properties, and assays for specific inhibitors. the gene was found to be expressed in all the major life stages of b. malayi. the purified enzyme expressed in escherichia coli was found to be in monomer form in its native state. the activities of the specific inhibitors ( ... | 2013 | 23733469 |
| tuning of peroxiredoxin catalysis for various physiological roles. | peroxiredoxins (prxs) make up an ancient family of enzymes that are the predominant peroxidases for nearly all organisms and play essential roles in reducing hydrogen peroxide, organic hydroperoxides, and peroxynitrite. even between distantly related organisms, the core protein fold and key catalytic residues related to its cysteine-based catalytic mechanism have been retained. given that these enzymes appeared early in biology, prxs have experienced more than 1 billion years of optimization for ... | 2014 | 25403613 |
| alphavirus-based vaccines. | alphavirus vectors have demonstrated high levels of transient heterologous gene expression both in vitro and in vivo and, therefore, possess attractive features for vaccine development. the most commonly used delivery vectors are based on three single-stranded encapsulated alphaviruses, namely semliki forest virus, sindbis virus and venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. alphavirus vectors have been applied as replication-deficient recombinant viral particles and, more recently, as replication-pr ... | 2014 | 24937089 |
| reciprocal tripartite interactions between the aedes aegypti midgut microbiota, innate immune system and dengue virus influences vector competence. | dengue virus is one of the most important arboviral pathogens and the causative agent of dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and dengue shock syndrome. it is transmitted between humans by the mosquitoes aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus, and at least 2.5 billion people are at daily risk of infection. during their lifecycle, mosquitoes are exposed to a variety of microbes, some of which are needed for their successful development into adulthood. however, recent studies have suggested that th ... | 2012 | 22413032 |
| insights from the genome annotation of elizabethkingia anophelis from the malaria vector anopheles gambiae. | elizabethkingia anophelis is a dominant bacterial species in the gut ecosystem of the malaria vector mosquito anopheles gambiae. we recently sequenced the genomes of two strains of e. anophelis, r26t and ag1, isolated from different strains of a. gambiae. the two bacterial strains are identical with a few exceptions. phylogenetically, elizabethkingia is closer to chryseobacterium and riemerella than to flavobacterium. in line with other bacteroidetes known to utilize various polymers in their ec ... | 2014 | 24842809 |