Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| macrofilaricidal effect of 4 weeks of treatment with doxycycline on wuchereria bancrofti. | to evaluate the efficacy of doxycycline as a macrofilaricidal agent against wuchereria bancrofti. | 2007 | 18076549 |
| a cellular basis for wolbachia recruitment to the host germline. | wolbachia are among the most widespread intracellular bacteria, carried by thousands of metazoan species. the success of wolbachia is due to efficient vertical transmission by the host maternal germline. some wolbachia strains concentrate at the posterior of host oocytes, which promotes wolbachia incorporation into posterior germ cells during embryogenesis. the molecular basis for this localization strategy is unknown. here we report that the wmel wolbachia strain relies upon a two-step mechanis ... | 2007 | 18085821 |
| tetracycline treatment influences mitochondrial metabolism and mtdna density two generations after treatment in drosophila. | tetracycline is commonly used to clear wolbachia from infected insects. studies then compare specific biochemical and/or life-history traits between infected and uninfected individuals with the same genetic background. we investigated the potential for tetracycline to influence mitochondrial efficiency and mitochondrial (mt)dna density two generations after treatment in drosophila simulans. we observed that antibiotic treatment resulted in a decline in inorganic phosphate incorporated into atp p ... | 2007 | 18093008 |
| iswpi1 from wolbachia pipientis defines a novel group of insertion sequences within the is5 family. | insertion sequences are transposable elements that can represent substantial proportions of prokaryotic genomes and play a substantial role in shaping host genome evolution. as such, evaluating and understanding insertion sequence diversity is an important task to fulfill, because it is expected to yield new insight into the evolution of bacterial transposable elements and contribute to improve genome annotations. here, i characterized an insertion sequence, termed iswpi1, for which the taxonomi ... | 2008 | 18155858 |
| genome-wide analysis of the interaction between the endosymbiotic bacterium wolbachia and its drosophila host. | intracellular wolbachia bacteria are obligate, maternally-inherited, endosymbionts found frequently in insects and other invertebrates. the success of wolbachia can be attributed in part to an ability to alter host reproduction via mechanisms including cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci), parthenogenesis, feminization and male killing. despite substantial scientific effort, the molecular mechanisms underlying the wolbachia/host interaction are unknown. | 2008 | 18171476 |
| insight into the routes of wolbachia invasion: high levels of horizontal transfer in the spider genus agelenopsis revealed by wolbachia strain and mitochondrial dna diversity. | the pandemic distribution of wolbachia (alpha-proteobacteria) across arthropods is largely due to the ability of these maternally inherited endosymbionts to successfully shift hosts across species boundaries. yet it remains unclear whether wolbachia has preferential routes of transfer among species. here, we examined populations of eight species of the north american funnel-web spider genus agelenopsis to evaluate whether wolbachia show evidence for host specificity and the relative contribution ... | 2008 | 18179432 |
| prior killing of intracellular bacteria wolbachia reduces inflammatory reactions and improves antifilarial efficacy of diethylcarbamazine in rodent model of brugia malayi. | the discovery of the endosymbiont wolbachia, which has a mutualistic relationship with filarial nematodes, and its importance in filarial parasite biology has provided a lead for developing novel chemotherapeutic agents against human filariasis. wolbachia also appears to be involved in immunopathological responses as well as adverse reactions after antifilarial therapy. the aim of the present study was to explore the potential of administering anti-wolbachial therapy before antifilarial treatmen ... | 2008 | 18180957 |
| the mitochondrial heat shock protein 60 (hsp60) is up-regulated in onchocerca volvulus after the depletion of wolbachia. | wolbachia, a genus of endosymbiotic bacteria of filarial worms, represent novel targets for anti-filarial therapy. the efficacy of compounds against wolbachia has been evaluated using antiserum raised against the 60 kda heat shock protein (hsp60) which binds specifically to this protein in both wolbachia and mitochondria. it has been shown that wolbachia stains (using such specific probes) stronger than the mitochondria in untreated onchocerca volvulus, whereas after the depletion of wolbachia ( ... | 2008 | 18205985 |
| interspecific hybridization yields strategy for south pacific filariasis vector elimination. | lymphatic filariasis (lf) is a leading cause of disability in south pacific regions, where >96% of the 1.7 million population are at risk of lf infection. as part of current global campaign, mass drug administration (mda) has effectively reduced lymphatic filiariasis prevalence, but mosquito vector biology can complicate the mda strategy. in some regions, there is evidence that the goal of lf elimination cannot be attained via mda alone. obligate vector mosquitoes provide additional targets for ... | 2008 | 18235849 |
| ultrastructure of reproductive system of female litomosoides chagasfilhoi moraes-neto, lanfredi and de souza, 1997 (nematoda: filarioidea). | the ultrastructure of the female reproductive system of the filariid litomosoides chagasfilhoi by transmission electron microscopy (tem) is described for the first time. the ovary is composed of primary oocytes surrounded by a single layer of epithelial cells apposed on the basal laminae. the ovarian wall is completely filled with primary oocytes, which are arranged radially and are centrally connected around the rachis. the uterine wall consists of muscular fibers surrounded by a basal lamina a ... | 2008 | 18236077 |
| population biology of cytoplasmic incompatibility: maintenance and spread of cardinium symbionts in a parasitic wasp. | bacteria that cause cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci) are perhaps the most widespread parasites of arthropods. ci symbionts cause reproductive failure when infected males mate with females that are either uninfected or infected with a different, incompatible strain. until recently, ci was known to be caused only by the alpha-proteobacterium wolbachia. here we present the first study of the population biology of cardinium, a recently discovered symbiont in the bacteroidetes that causes ci in the p ... | 2008 | 18245338 |
| [evolution from retrotransposons to retroviruses: origin of the env gene]. | in genome of drosophila melanogaster, various families of retrotransposons with different combination of functional domens and mechanisms of transposition are present. however only retrotransposons of gypsy family are retroviruses related to errantiviruses. other families seemingly appeared as intermediate forms of retroviruses evolution. despite the fact that the question on origin of retroviruses remains unclear, now the hypothesis of their origin from retrotransoposons can be considered the m ... | 2007 | 18257289 |
| crystallization and preliminary diffraction analysis of a dsba homologue from wolbachia pipientis. | alpha-dsba1 is one of two dsba homologues encoded by the gram-negative alpha-proteobacterium wolbachia pipientis, an endosymbiont that can behave as a reproductive parasite in insects and as a mutualist in medically important filarial nematodes. the alpha-dsba1 protein is thought to be important for the folding and secretion of wolbachia proteins involved in the induction of reproductive distortions. crystals of native and semet alpha-dsba1 were grown by vapour diffusion and belong to the monocl ... | 2008 | 18259058 |
| high incidence of the maternally inherited bacterium cardinium in spiders. | inherited bacteria are now recognized as important players in arthropod evolution and ecology. here, we test spiders, a group recently identified as possessing inherited bacteria commonly, for the presence of two reproductive parasites, cardinium hertigii (bacteroidetes group) and wolbachia (alpha-proteobacteria), estimating incidence, prevalence, any sex bias in infection, and infection diversity, for a panel of field-collected specimens. we identify spiders as a hotspot for cardinium. present ... | 2008 | 18266629 |
| infection of the intermediate mite host with wolbachia-depleted litomosoides sigmodontis microfilariae: impaired l1 to l3 development and subsequent sex-ratio distortion in adult worms. | the rodent filaria litomosoides sigmodontis harbour wolbachia, endosymbionts essential for worm embryogenesis, larval development and adult survival. to study the effect of tetracycline, which depletes wolbachia, on the development of microfilariae (l1s, mf) to l3 in the intermediate host ornithonyssus bacoti, and to observe the development of wolbachia-depleted l3s in mongolian gerbils (meriones unguiculatus); microfilaremic gerbils were treated orally with tetracycline for 6 weeks (primary inf ... | 2008 | 18282572 |
| diversity and phylogeny of wolbachia infecting bactrocera dorsalis (diptera: tephritidae) populations from china. | wolbachia are a common and widespread group of symbiotic bacteria found in the reproductive tissues of arthropods. bactrocera dorsalis (hendel) is an important pest causing considerable economic losses of fruits and vegetables in several southern provinces of china. in this study, polymerase chain reaction (pcr) with general wolbachia surface protein (wsp) primers was used to test the presence of wolbachia in 1,500 individuals of b. dorsalis from five geographical populations of china. we detect ... | 2007 | 18284754 |
| inherited intracellular ecosystem: symbiotic bacteria share bacteriocytes in whiteflies. | symbiotic relationships with bacteria are common within the arthropoda, with interactions that substantially influence the biology of both partners. the symbionts' spatial distribution is essential for understanding key aspects of this relationship, such as bacterial transmission, phenotype, and dynamics. in this study, fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to localize five secondary symbionts from various populations and biotypes of the sweet potato whitefly bemisia tabaci: hamiltonella, ... | 2008 | 18285399 |
| infectious diseases of dogs and cats on isabela island, galapagos. | vaccination and importation of dogs and cats are prohibited in the galapagos, resulting in a uniquely isolated population. the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of infectious diseases of dogs and cats that impact their health, could spill over to native wildlife, or sentinel diseases of concern to humans. | 2008 | 18289290 |
| wolbachia transmission dynamics in formica wood ants. | the role of wolbachia endosymbionts in shaping the mitochondrial diversity of their arthropod host depends on the effects they have on host reproduction and on the mode of transmission of the bacteria. we have compared the sequence diversity of wsp (wolbachia surface protein gene) and the host mtdna in a group of formica ant species that have diverged approximately 0.5 million years ago (mya). the aim was to study the relationship of wolbachia and its ant hosts in terms of vertical and horizonta ... | 2008 | 18291041 |
| you can't keep a good parasite down: evolution of a male-killer suppressor uncovers cytoplasmic incompatibility. | maternally inherited parasites are known to impose a wide variety of reproductive manipulations upon their host. these often produce strong selection on the host to suppress the parasite, resulting in a reduction in the frequency of the parasite. however, in the butterfly hypolimnas bolina, infected with a wolbachia bacterium, field data demonstrate that suppression of the male-killing phenotype does not depress parasite frequency. here we test and verify one hypothesis to explain this apparent ... | 2008 | 18298644 |
| visualization of pseudogenes in intracellular bacteria reveals the different tracks to gene destruction. | pseudogenes reveal ancestral gene functions. some obligate intracellular bacteria, such as mycobacterium leprae and rickettsia spp., carry substantial fractions of pseudogenes. until recently, horizontal gene transfers were considered to be rare events in obligate host-associated bacteria. | 2008 | 18302730 |
| novel rna sequences associated with late male killing in homona magnanima. | maternally inherited female-biased sex ratios have been documented in many invertebrate species. one cause of such biased sex ratios is male killing, i.e. only males die. in most species, male killing occurs during embryonic stages (early male killing) and is associated with cytoplasmic bacteria, including wolbachia, spiroplasma, rickettsia, flavobacteria and gamma proteobacteria. however, the oriental tea tortrix, homona magnanima, is one of the few species in which male death occurs in the lar ... | 2008 | 18302997 |
| how many species are infected with wolbachia?--a statistical analysis of current data. | wolbachia are intracellular bacteria found in many species of arthropods and nematodes. they manipulate the reproduction of their arthropod hosts in various ways, may play a role in host speciation and have potential applications in biological pest control. estimates suggest that at least 20% of all insect species are infected with wolbachia. these estimates result from several wolbachia screenings in which numerous species were tested for infection; however, tests were mostly performed on only ... | 2008 | 18312577 |
| protein profiling of hemocytes from the terrestrial crustacean armadillidium vulgare. | to establish and maintain a successful infection, microbial pathogens have evolved various strategies to infect the host in the face of a functional immune system. in this context, the alpha-proteobacteria wolbachia capacities to infect new host species have been greatly evidenced. indeed, in terrestrial isopods, experimentally transferred wolbachia invade all host tissues, including immune cells such as hemocytes. to investigate mechanisms that have to be avoided by bacteria to maintain themsel ... | 2008 | 18329099 |
| [wolbachia extensively harbored by bemisia tabaci in china]. | wolbachia are a group of maternally inherited bacteria harbored by a variety of arthropods and can manipulate the reproductivity of their hosts. eighteen populations of whiteflies were collected from hebei, xinjiang, beijing, shandong, zhejiang, guangxi, hainan, guangzhou and fujian provinces, china. these whiteflies were molecularly identified using internal transcribed spacer 1 its1 rdna sequences. they were then detected for wolbachia infection using wolbachia-specific primers designed based ... | 2008 | 18338578 |
| natural death of adult onchocerca volvulus and filaricidal effects of doxycycline induce local foxp3+/cd4+ regulatory t cells and granzyme expression. | immunosuppression in human filarial disease involves regulatory t cells. we hypothesized that natural or worm antigen-induced foxp3 regulatory t cells could be involved locally, suppressing effector cells via granzymes. natural and treatment-induced death of worms implies enhanced exposure to worm antigens. therefore, we examined foxp3+t cells and granzyme expression in onchocercomas harbouring adult onchocerca volvulus worms, with respect to worm viability, productivity, the patient's immune st ... | 2008 | 18339571 |
| diversity of ixodes ricinus tick-associated bacterial communities from different forests. | nymphal ixodes ricinus ticks (n=180) were collected from three different areas in the netherlands to investigate the effect of forest composition on tick-associated microbial communities. sampled habitats differed in thickness of leaf litter and humus layers and vegetation associations and were located near amsterdam (beech-oak), ede (birch-oak) and veldhoven (birch-oak). analysis of nine 16s rrna gene clone libraries made from individual ticks showed nearest matches with presumed pathogens cand ... | 2008 | 18355299 |
| lymphatic filariasis: inflammatory response to wolbachia bacteria in filarial worms. | 2007 | 18365535 | |
| filarial infections in travelers and immigrants. | filarial infections including loiasis, onchocerciasis, and lymphatic filariasis are important causes of morbidity in endemic populations worldwide, and they present a risk to travelers to endemic areas. definitive diagnosis is complicated by overlap in the geographic distribution and clinical manifestations of the different filarial parasites, as well as similarities in their antigenic and nucleic acid composition. this has important implications for treatment, because the efficacies and toxicit ... | 2008 | 18377816 |
| exploring the transcriptome of the burrowing nematode radopholus similis. | radopholus similis is an important nematode pest on fruit crops in the tropics. unraveling the transcriptome of this migratory plant-parasitic nematode can provide insight in the parasitism process and lead to more efficient control measures. for the first high throughput molecular characterization of this devastating nematode, 5,853 expressed sequence tags from a mixed stage population were generated. adding 1,154 tags from the est division of genbank for subsequent analysis, resulted in a tota ... | 2008 | 18386064 |
| cloning, expression, purification and characterization of a dsba-like protein from wolbachia pipientis. | wolbachia pipientis are obligate endosymbionts that infect a wide range of insect and other arthropod species. they act as reproductive parasites by manipulating the host reproduction machinery to enhance their own transmission. this unusual phenotype is thought to be a consequence of the actions of secreted wolbachia proteins that are likely to contain disulfide bonds to stabilize the protein structure. in bacteria, the introduction or isomerization of disulfide bonds in proteins is catalyzed b ... | 2008 | 18387819 |
| sex chromosomes and sex determination in lepidoptera. | the speciose insect order lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) and their closest relatives, trichoptera (caddis flies), share a female-heterogametic sex chromosome system. originally a z/zz (female/male) system, it evolved by chromosome rearrangement to a wz/zz (female/male) system in the most species-rich branch of lepidoptera, a monophyletic group consisting of ditrysia and tischeriina, which together comprise more than 98% of all species. further sporadic rearrangements created multi-sex chrom ... | 2008 | 18391545 |
| cytological properties of an aedes albopictus mosquito cell line infected with wolbachia strain walbb. | in vitro production of the obligate intracellular bacterium, wolbachia pipientis, is essential to its manipulation as a genetic tool to spread transgenes within vector populations. we have adapted the wolbachia-infected aa23 aedes albopictus mosquito cell line to eagle's minimal medium, supplemented with nonessential amino acids, glutamine, and 20% fetal bovine serum. when plated at low densities, aa23e cells grew as patchy monolayers, comprised of non-contiguous clusters of cells that gave rise ... | 2008 | 18401667 |
| molecular and functional characterization of granulin-like molecules of insects. | granulins are a group of highly conserved growth factors that have been described from a variety of organisms spanning the metazoa. here, we report on the identification of two partial transcripts encoding granulin-like molecules from aa23 embryonic cells of aedes albopictus and primary haemocytes from manduca sexta. both these partial transcripts had the characteristic 12-cysteine motif that is a hallmark of the granulin family and they represent the first granulin mrna transcripts identified f ... | 2008 | 18405836 |
| doxycycline treatment of brugia malayi-infected persons reduces microfilaremia and adverse reactions after diethylcarbamazine and albendazole treatment. | the efficacy of doxycycline for treating the causal agent of human lymphatic filariasis, brugia malayi, is unknown. standard treatment with diethylcarbamazine-albendazole is associated with adverse reactions. we assessed whether doxycycline alone or in combination with diethylcarbamazine-albendazole would lead to sustained amicrofilaremia and reduced incidence of adverse reactions. | 2008 | 18419441 |
| effects of 6-week azithromycin treatment on the wolbachia endobacteria of onchocerca volvulus. | the effects of azithromycin treatment on the presence of wolbachia endobacteria and on the embryogenesis and microfilariae production of onchocerca volvulus were studied. in 2002, in an endemic area in ghana, 37 onchocerciasis patients were treated for 6 weeks with azithromycin: 23 patients received 250 mg every day, and 14 took 1,200 mg once a week. after 6 and/or 12 months, all palpable worm nodules were extirpated from 31 treated and nine additional untreated patients, and the presence of wol ... | 2008 | 18421478 |
| multiple rescue factors within a wolbachia strain. | wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci) is expressed when infected males are crossed with either uninfected females or females infected with wolbachia of different ci specificity. in diploid insects, ci results in embryonic mortality, apparently due to the the loss of the paternal set of chromosomes, usually during the first mitotic division. the molecular basis of ci has not been determined yet; however, several lines of evidence suggest that wolbachia exhibits two distinct sex-depen ... | 2008 | 18430940 |
| combined ivermectin and doxycycline treatment has microfilaricidal and adulticidal activity against dirofilaria immitis in experimentally infected dogs. | there is still a pressing need for effective adulticide treatment for human and animal filarial infections. like many filarial nematodes, dirofilaria immitis, the causative agent of canine heartworm disease, harbours the bacterial endosymbiont wolbachia, which has been shown to be essential for worm development, fecundity and survival. here the authors report the effect of different treatment regimens in dogs experimentally infected with adult d. immitis on microfilariemia, antigenemia, worm rec ... | 2008 | 18433753 |
| the secretome of the filarial parasite, brugia malayi: proteomic profile of adult excretory-secretory products. | the secretome of a parasite in its definitive host can be considered to be its genome in trans, to the extent that secreted products encoded by the parasite fulfill their function in the host milieu. the 'extended phenotype' of the filarial parasite, brugia malayi, is of particular interest because of the evidence that infection results in potent down-modulation of the host immune response. we collected b. malayi 'excretory-secretory' (bes) proteins from adult parasites and using a combination o ... | 2008 | 18439691 |
| wolbachia infection alters olfactory-cued locomotion in drosophila spp. | wolbachia pipientis is an endosymbiotic bacterium present in diverse insect species. although it is well studied for its dramatic effects on host reproductive biology, little is known about its effects on other aspects of host biology, despite its presence in a wide array of host tissues. this study examined the effects of three wolbachia strains on two different drosophila species, using a laboratory performance assay for insect locomotion in response to olfactory cues. the results demonstrate ... | 2008 | 18456851 |
| transfection of feminizing wolbachia endosymbionts of the butterfly, eurema hecabe, into the cell culture and various immature stages of the silkmoth, bombyx mori. | wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacteria of invertebrates that can manipulate the reproductive systems of their arthropod hosts in a variety of ways. to establish a useful model system for investigating the mechanism of wolbachia-induced host feminization, we conducted the following series of experiments: (1) feminizing wolbachia of the butterfly, eurema hecabe, were transferred into cell cultures of the silkmoth, bombyx mori, and (2) the transfected wolbachia in cell cultures w ... | 2008 | 18458997 |
| the endosymbiont wolbachia pipientis induces the expression of host antioxidant proteins in an aedes albopictus cell line. | wolbachia are obligate intracellular bacteria which commonly infect arthropods. they are maternally inherited and capable of altering host development, sex determination, and reproduction. reproductive manipulations include feminization, male-killing, parthenogenesis, and cytoplasmic incompatibility. the mechanism by which wolbachia avoid destruction by the host immune response is unknown. generation of antimicrobial peptides (amps) and reactive oxygen species (ros) by the host are among the fir ... | 2008 | 18461124 |
| an rgs-containing sorting nexin controls drosophila lifespan. | the pursuit of eternal youth has existed for centuries and recent data indicate that fat-storing tissues control lifespan. in a d. melanogaster fat body insertional mutagenic enhancer trap screen designed to isolate genes that control longevity, we identified a regulator of g protein signaling (rgs) domain containing sorting nexin, termed snazarus (sorting nexin lazarus, snz). flies with insertions into the 5' utr of snz live up to twice as long as controls. transgenic expression of uas-snz from ... | 2008 | 18478054 |
| heartworm disease in animals and humans. | heartworm disease due to dirofilaria immitis continues to cause severe disease and even death in dogs and other animals in many parts of the world, even though safe, highly effective and convenient preventatives have been available for the past two decades. moreover, the parasite and vector mosquitoes continue to spread into areas where they have not been reported previously. heartworm societies have been established in the usa and japan and the first european dirofilaria days (fedd) conference ... | 2008 | 18486691 |
| origins of asexuality in bryobia mites (acari: tetranychidae). | obligate asexual reproduction is rare in the animal kingdom. generally, asexuals are considered evolutionary dead ends that are unable to radiate. the phytophagous mite genus bryobia contains a large number of asexual species. in this study, we investigate the origin and evolution of asexuality using samples from 111 populations in europe, south africa and the united states, belonging to eleven bryobia species. we also examine intraspecific clonal diversity for one species, b. kissophila, by gen ... | 2008 | 18489749 |
| phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal dna-containing bacterioplankton genome fragments from a 4000 m vertical profile in the north pacific subtropical gyre. | high-throughput identification of rrna gene-containing clones in large insert metagenomic libraries is difficult, because of the high background of host ribosomal rna (rrna) and rrna genes. to address this challenge, a membrane hybridization method was developed to identify all bacterial small subunit rrna-containing fosmid clones of microbial community dna from seven different depths in the north pacific subtropical gyre. out of 101,376 clones screened, 751 rdna-containing clones were identifie ... | 2008 | 18494796 |
| molecular identification of anaplasma marginale and rickettsial endosymbionts in blood-sucking flies (diptera: tabanidae, muscidae) and hard ticks (acari: ixodidae). | in an attempt to identify the main vector and possible transmission routes of anaplasma spp. in a region of hungary with high prevalence of ovine and bovine anaplasmosis, dna was extracted from 316 haematophagous arthropods (individually or in pools), including 4 species of ixodid ticks, 6 species of tabanid flies and hornflies. midichloria-like organisms were identified with pcr (amplifying a portion of the 16s rrna gene) and sequencing from dermacentor marginatus and ixodes ricinus. significan ... | 2008 | 18495345 |
| genetic and functional characterization of the type iv secretion system in wolbachia. | a type iv secretion system (t4ss) is used by many symbiotic and pathogenic intracellular bacteria for the successful infection of and survival, proliferation, and persistence within hosts. in this study, the presence and function of the t4ss in wolbachia strains were investigated by a combination of genetic screening and immunofluorescence microscopy. two operons of virb-vird4 loci were found in the genome of wolbachia pipientis strain watab3, from the hymenoptera asobara tabida, and strain wri, ... | 2008 | 18502862 |
| wolbachia-based technologies for insect pest population control. | wolbachia are a group of obligatory intracellular and maternally inherited bacteria found in many arthropod species, including insects, mites, spiders, springtails, crustaceans, as well as in certain nematodes. several pcr-based surveys suggest that over 20% of the arthropod species may be wolbachia-infected, rendering this bacterium the most ubiquitous intracellular symbiont yet described. wolbachia have recently attracted attention for their potential as novel and environmentally friendly bio- ... | 2008 | 18510018 |
| using predictive models to optimize wolbachia-based strategies for vector-borne disease control. | the development of resistance to insecticides by vector arthropods, the evolution of resistance to chemotherapeutic agents by parasites and the lack of clinical cures or vaccines for many diseases has stimulated a high-profile effort to develop vector-borne disease control strategies based on release of genetically-modified mosquitoes. because transgenic insects are likely to be less fit than their wild-type counterparts, transgenic traits must be actively driven into the population in spite of ... | 2008 | 18510019 |
| modifying insect population age structure to control vector-borne disease. | age is a critical determinant of the ability of most arthropod vectors to transmit a range of human pathogens. this is due to the fact that most pathogens require a period of extrinsic incubation in the arthropod host before pathogen transmission can occur. this developmental period for the pathogen often comprises a significant proportion of the expected lifespan of the vector. as such, only a small proportion of the population that is oldest contributes to pathogen transmission. given this, st ... | 2008 | 18510020 |
| first detection of wolbachia spp., including a new genotype, in sand flies collected in marseille, france. | pooled sand fly samples collected in marseille, france, in july 2005 were examined by polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of the 16s rrna gene of the anaplasmataceae. two different sequences of the 16s rrna gene were obtained that are similar to bacteria belonging to the genus wolbachia. these findings were confirmed by amplification, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis of the wsp gene of the genus wolbachia. the wolbachia species from sergentomyia minuta has been named "wol ... | 2008 | 18533441 |
| molecular identification of wolbachia from the filarial nematode mansonella perstans. | wolbachiae are bacterial endosymbionts of insects and many filarial nematodes whose products trigger inflammation in filarial infections. the dependence of the parasites on their endosymbionts has also led to the use of antibiotics directed against the wolbachiae, therapy that has been demonstrated to have a profound salutary effect on filarial infections. the identification of wolbachiae in mansonella species has been conclusively shown for mansonella ozzardi (mo), but not for mansonella persta ... | 2008 | 18538871 |
| the wolbachia endosymbiont of brugia malayi has an active pyruvate phosphate dikinase. | genome analysis of the glycolytic/gluconeogenic pathway in the wolbachia endosymbiont from the filarial parasite brugia malayi (wbm) has revealed that wbm lacks pyruvate kinase (pk) and may instead utilize the enzyme pyruvate phosphate dikinase (ppdk; atp:pyruvate, orthophosphate phosphotransferase, ec 2.7.9.1). ppdk catalyses the reversible conversion of amp, ppi and phosphoenolpyruvate (pep) into atp, pi and pyruvate. the glycolytic pathway of most organisms, including mammals, contains exclus ... | 2008 | 18539347 |
| bancroftian filariasis--absence of wolbachia after doxycycline treatment. | 2008 | 18541758 | |
| genetic and cytogenetic analysis of the fruit fly rhagoletis cerasi (diptera: tephritidae). | the european cherry fruit fly, rhagoletis cerasi, is a major agricultural pest for which biological, genetic, and cytogenetic information is limited. we report here a cytogenetic analysis of 4 natural greek populations of r. cerasi, all of them infected with the endosymbiotic bacterium wolbachia pipientis. the mitotic karyotype and detailed photographic maps of the salivary gland polytene chromosomes of this pest species are presented here. the mitotic metaphase complement consists of 6 pairs of ... | 2008 | 18545272 |
| genome evolution of wolbachia strain wpip from the culex pipiens group. | the obligate intracellular bacterium wolbachia pipientis strain wpip induces cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci), patterns of crossing sterility, in the culex pipiens group of mosquitoes. the complete sequence is presented of the 1.48-mbp genome of wpip which encodes 1386 coding sequences (cdss), representing the first genome sequence of a b-supergroup wolbachia. comparisons were made with the smaller genomes of wolbachia strains wmel of drosophila melanogaster, an a-supergroup wolbachia that is al ... | 2008 | 18550617 |
| intense transpositional activity of insertion sequences in an ancient obligate endosymbiont. | the streamlined genomes of ancient obligate endosymbionts generally lack transposable elements, such as insertion sequences (is). yet, the genome of wolbachia, one of the most abundant bacterial endosymbionts on earth, is littered with is. such a paradox raises the question as to why there are so many iss in the genome of this ancient endosymbiont. to address this question, we investigated is transpositional activity in the unculturable wolbachia by tracking the evolutionary dynamics and history ... | 2008 | 18562339 |
| wolbachia in dirofilaria repens causing human subcutaneous dirofilariosis. | human subcutaneous dirofilariosis is an increasingly reported zoonosis caused by several filarial species, in particular by dirofilaria (nochtiella) repens. like many filarial worms, d. repens harbours the bacterial endosymbiont wolbachia that has been implicated in the inflammatory features of filarial infection. immunohistochemical staining against the wolbachia surface protein (wsp) was carried out on 14 skin nodules and showed numerous bacteria within the intact worms and occasional positive ... | 2008 | 18576857 |
| the diversity of reproductive parasites among arthropods: wolbachia do not walk alone. | inherited bacteria have come to be recognised as important components of arthropod biology. in addition to mutualistic symbioses, a range of other inherited bacteria are known to act either as reproductive parasites or as secondary symbionts. whilst the incidence of the alpha-proteobacterium wolbachia is relatively well established, the current knowledge of other inherited bacteria is much weaker. here, we tested 136 arthropod species for a range of inherited bacteria known to demonstrate reprod ... | 2008 | 18577218 |
| characterization and transcriptional analysis of two gene clusters for type iv secretion machinery in wolbachia of armadillidium vulgare. | wolbachia are maternally inherited alpha-proteobacteria that induce feminization of genetic males in most terrestrial crustacean isopods. two clusters of vir genes for a type iv secretion machinery have been identified at two separate loci and characterized for the first time in a feminizing wolbachia. furthermore, we demonstrated that these operons are transcriptionally active in ovaries and in all other tissues tested, suggesting that t4ss has a significant role in wolbachia biology. these obs ... | 2008 | 18582562 |
| standardization of a colorimetric method to quantify growth and metabolic activity of wolbachia-infected mosquito cells. | the aedes albopictus aa23 cell line, which is persistently infected with wolbachia pipientis strain walbb, tends to grow as aggregated clusters of cells that are difficult to disperse for conventional quantification based on cell number. we used a. albopictus c7-10 cells to validate conversion of methylthiazole tetrazolium (mtt) to a colored formazan product with respect to incubation time, cell number over a 40-fold range, and metabolic activity as cells enter stationary phase. using this assay ... | 2008 | 18622662 |
| wolbachia modification of sperm does not always require residence within developing sperm. | wolbachia are maternally inherited intracellular bacteria known to manipulate the reproduction of their arthropod hosts. wolbachia commonly affect the sperm of infected arthropods. wolbachia-modified sperm cannot successfully fertilize unless the female is infected with the same wolbachia type. a study of spermatogenesis in the parasitic wasp nasonia vitripennis reveals that wolbachia are not required in individual spermatocytes or spermatids to modify sperm. in n. vitripennis, wolbachia modify ... | 2008 | 18648384 |
| rapidly evolving mitochondrial genome and directional selection in mitochondrial genes in the parasitic wasp nasonia (hymenoptera: pteromalidae). | we sequenced the nearly complete mtdna of 3 species of parasitic wasps, nasonia vitripennis (2 strains), nasonia giraulti, and nasonia longicornis, including all 13 protein-coding genes and the 2 rrnas, and found unusual patterns of mitochondrial evolution. the nasonia mtdna has a unique gene order compared with other insect mtdnas due to multiple rearrangements. the mtdnas of these wasps also show nucleotide substitution rates over 30 times faster than nuclear protein-coding genes, indicating a ... | 2008 | 18653734 |
| efficacy of 2- and 4-week rifampicin treatment on the wolbachia of onchocerca volvulus. | the microfilaricidal and temporarily sterilizing drug ivermectin is used for mass treatment of filarial infections. filariae containing wolbachia endobacteria can also be treated by the antibiotic doxycycline. the loss of wolbachia results in sterilization of onchocerca volvulus and macrofilaricidal effects. besides doxycycline, other antibiotics may be effective in depleting wolbachia. a preliminary study on the effects of rifampicin on the endobacteria, embryogenesis and microfilariae producti ... | 2008 | 18679718 |
| wolbachia plays no role in the one-way reproductive incompatibility between the hybridizing field crickets gryllus firmus and g. pennsylvanicus. | wolbachia are cytoplasmically inherited alpha-proteobacteria that can cause cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci) in insects. this incompatibility between sperm and egg is evident when uninfected females mate with infected males. wolbachia-driven reproductive incompatibilities are of special interest because they may play a role in speciation. however, the presence of wolbachia does not always imply incompatibility. the field crickets gryllus firmus and g. pennsylvanicus exhibit a very clear unidirec ... | 2008 | 18685571 |
| symbionts, including pathogens, of the predatory mite metaseiulus occidentalis: current and future analysis methods. | metaseiulus (= typhlodromus or galendromus) occidentalis (nesbitt) (acari: phytoseiidae) is an effective natural enemy of pest mites in a variety of crops around the world, although it is considered to be endemic in the western usa. a broad understanding of much of its biology, ecology, behavior, and genetics has been obtained over the past 60 years, but the role(s) symbionts play, which includes pathogens and other microorganisms, remains to be resolved fully. until molecular tools became avail ... | 2008 | 18696231 |
| relative wolbachia density of field-collected aedes albopictus mosquitoes in thailand. | female aedes albopictus mosquitoes from natural populations of different geographical regions of thailand were collected and allowed to oviposit to determine relative wolbachia a and wolbachia b densities of their offspring (f1) by using real-time quantitative pcr (rtq-pcr). an important aspect of this work is that all aedes albopictus mosquitoes were collected from the field. twenty-seven offspring were from diverse areas of thailand (songkhla, konkaen, chantaburi, and kanchanaburi). the range ... | 2008 | 18697321 |
| which way to manipulate host reproduction? wolbachia that cause cytoplasmic incompatibility are easily invaded by sex ratio-distorting mutants. | the bacterium wolbachia manipulates its hosts by inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci), where zygotes formed from crosses between uninfected mothers and infected fathers die. in addition, it distorts the host's sex ratio via male killing, parthenogenesis induction, or feminization. here, we model transitions between these states, examining the evolution of mutants of ci strains that retain both the ability to induce and resist ci but, in addition, cause sex ratio distortion. the model shows ... | 2002 | 18707445 |
| the effect of wolbachia on genetic divergence between populations: models with two-way migration. | wolbachia are intracellular bacteria that cause various reproduction alterations in their hosts, including cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci), an incompatibility between sperm and egg that typically results in embryonic death. we investigate theoretically the effects of wolbachia-induced bidirectional ci on levels of divergence between two populations, where there is migration in both directions and differential selection at a single locus. the main findings are as follows: wolbachia differences i ... | 2002 | 18707453 |
| the genetics and cell biology of wolbachia-host interactions. | wolbachia are gram-negative bacteria that are widespread in nature, carried by the majority of insect species as well as some mites, crustaceans, and filarial nematodes. wolbachia can range from parasitic to symbiotic, depending upon the interaction with the host species. the success of wolbachia is attributed to efficient maternal transmission and manipulations of host reproduction that favor infected females, such as sperm-egg cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci). much remains unknown about the me ... | 2008 | 18713031 |
| a new cytogenetic mechanism for bacterial endosymbiont-induced parthenogenesis in hymenoptera. | vertically transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria, such as wolbachia, cardinium and rickettsia, modify host reproduction in several ways to facilitate their own spread. one such modification results in parthenogenesis induction, where males, which are unable to transmit the bacteria, are not produced. in hymenoptera, the mechanism of diploidization due to wolbachia infection, known as gamete duplication, is a post-meiotic modification. during gamete duplication, the meiotic mechanism is normal, but ... | 2008 | 18713719 |
| no resistance to male-killing wolbachia after thousands of years of infection. | maternally transmitted male-killing endosymbionts can exert strong and relentless selection pressure on their hosts to evolve resistance to these infections. surveys of current infection prevalence and mtdna diversity indicate that drosophila innubila is and has been infected with male-killing wolbachia at moderate frequencies for extended evolutionary periods. here, we use coalescent simulations to infer the minimum age of the wolbachia infection in this species, and estimate that the infection ... | 2008 | 18717746 |
| natural enemies of mass-reared predatory mites (family phytoseiidae) used for biological pest control. | predatory mites of the family phytoseiidae are valued natural enemies that provide effective pest control in greenhouses and on agricultural crops. mass-reared phytoseiids are occasionally associated with microorganisms and although their effects are not always apparent, some are pathogenic and reduce host fitness. invertebrate pathogens are encountered more frequently in mass production systems than in nature because rearing environments often cause overcrowding and other stresses that favour p ... | 2008 | 18726699 |
| stochastic spread of wolbachia. | wolbachia are very common, maternally transmitted endosymbionts of insects. they often spread by a mechanism termed cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci) that involves reduced egg hatch when wolbachia-free ova are fertilized by sperm from wolbachia-infected males. because the progeny of wolbachia-infected females generally do not suffer ci-induced mortality, infected females are often at a reproductive advantage in polymorphic populations. deterministic models show that wolbachia that impose no costs ... | 2008 | 18755670 |
| inherited fungal and bacterial endosymbionts of a parasitic wasp and its cockroach host. | bacterial endosymbionts of insects are increasingly being recognized as common, diverse, and integral to the biology of their hosts. inherited fungal symbionts have been largely overlooked, however, even though insect guts appear to be a key habitat for an incredible array of fungal diversity. like bacteria, fungal symbionts also likely play important roles in the ecology and evolution of their insect associates. the objective of this study was to lay the foundations for understanding the roles ... | 2009 | 18758845 |
| verified and potential pathogens of predatory mites (acari: phytoseiidae). | several species of phytoseiid mites (acari: phytoseiidae), including species of the genera amblyseius, galendromus, metaseiulus, neoseiulus, phytoseiulus and typhlodromus, are currently reared for biological control of various crop pests and/or as model organisms for the study of predator-prey interactions. pathogen-free phytoseiid mites are important to obtain high efficacy in biological pest control and to get reliable data in mite research, as pathogens may affect the performance of their hos ... | 2008 | 18763041 |
| transfection of wolbachia pipientis into drosophila embryos. | wolbachia is a genus of obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria represented by the type species wolbachia pipientis (dumler et al., 2001). wolbachia commonly reside within cytoplasmic vacuoles of arthropods and helminths (werren and windsor, 2000; casiraghi et al., 2004); vertebrate infections have not been identified. wolbachia are maternally transmitted from mothers to offspring though the embryonic cytoplasm. wolbachia are able to induce a diverse range of phenotypes in their invertebrate ... | 2007 | 18770621 |
| an intracellular symbiont and other microbiota associated with field-collected populations of sawflies (hymenoptera: symphyta). | six species of sawfly (hymenoptera: symphyta) from four taxonomic families (agridae, diprionidae, pamphiliidae, and tenthredinidae) were collected from locations across canada and surveyed for their associated microbiota. total dna was extracted from individual insects, and polymerase chain reaction (pcr) was used to amplify the conserved 16s rrna gene from microbiota. denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (dgge) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) were undertaken to separate b ... | 2008 | 18772939 |
| nonrandom wolbachia infection status of drosophila melanogaster strains with different mtdna haplotypes. | wolbachia are maternally inherited bacteria, which typically spread in the host population by inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci). in drosophila melanogaster, wolbachia is quite common but ci is variable, with most of the studies reporting low levels of ci. surveying mitochondrial dna (mtdna) variation and infection status in a worldwide d. melanogaster collection, we found that the wolbachia infection was not randomly distributed among flies with different mtdna haplotypes. this preferent ... | 2008 | 18780877 |
| wolbachia: master manipulators of invertebrate biology. | wolbachia are common intracellular bacteria that are found in arthropods and nematodes. these alphaproteobacteria endosymbionts are transmitted vertically through host eggs and alter host biology in diverse ways, including the induction of reproductive manipulations, such as feminization, parthenogenesis, male killing and sperm-egg incompatibility. they can also move horizontally across species boundaries, resulting in a widespread and global distribution in diverse invertebrate hosts. here, we ... | 2008 | 18794912 |
| sex mosaics in a male dimorphic ant cardiocondyla kagutsuchi. | gynandromorphy, or the development of organisms with a combination of male and female morphological features, is common in hymenoptera. the underlying mechanism is likely associated with the sex-determination system, and studying this phenomenon should lead to a deeper understanding of both embryonic development and sex determination. the reproductive capabilities of gynandromorphs (hereafter, sex mosaics) remain unclear. we studied gynandromorphy in the malaysian ant cardiocondyla kagutsuchi, w ... | 2009 | 18797835 |
| absence of wolbachia endobacteria in the non-filariid nematodes angiostrongylus cantonensis and a. costaricensis. | abstract: the majority of filarial nematodes harbour wolbachia endobacteria, including the major pathogenic species in humans, onchocerca volvulus, brugia malayi and wuchereria bancrofti. these obligate endosymbionts have never been demonstrated unequivocally in any non-filariid nematode. however, a recent report described the detection by pcr of wolbachia in the metastrongylid nematode, angiostrongylus cantonensis (rat lungworm), a leading cause of eosinophilic meningitis in humans. to address ... | 2008 | 18801163 |
| behavior of wolbachia endosymbionts from drosophila simulans in drosophila serrata, a novel host. | many species harbor the incompatibility-inducing microbe wolbachia, a maternally inherited endoparasite that causes reduced egg hatch in crosses between infected males and uninfected females. infected females are immune to this effect, which gives them a relative fitness advantage that results in the spread of the infection. the strength of incompatibility, fitness deficits associated with the infection, and transmission rate from mother to offspring largely determine the rate and extent of spre ... | 1997 | 18811258 |
| the nematoda filarioidea: critical analysis linking molecular and traditional approaches. | the molecular analysis of the filarioidea and the endobacteria wolbachia is no more limited to the agents of human diseases and the diversified sampling permits a synthesis with the morphological and biological results. the validity of the genera with "uncoherent host range", such as monsonella, litomosoides and cercopithifilaria, is confirmed and, consequently, their evolution by host-switchings. dirofilaria and onchocerca, types of two subfamilies, appear more closely related than with other o ... | 2008 | 18814705 |
| wolbachia mediate variation of host immunocompetence. | after decades during which endosymbionts were considered as silent in their hosts, in particular concerning the immune system, recent studies have revealed the contrary. in the present paper, we addressed the effect of wolbachia, the most prevalent endosymbiont in arthropods, on host immunocompetence. to this end, we chose the a. vulgare-wolbachia symbiosis as a model system because it leads to compare consequences of two wolbachia strains (wvulc and wvulm) on hosts from the same population. mor ... | 2008 | 18818770 |
| curable genetic instability of a gal4 transgene in drosophila. | transgenes, especially those driving production of the gal4 transcription factor in a specific spatial pattern, are a critical and widely used tool in the drosophila research community. we recently noticed loss of gal4-driven reporter gene expression in a series of crosses, and traced that loss of reporter gene expression to stochastic physical loss of the gal4 gene in the driver line. we have demonstrated that the instability of the gal4 transgene can be "cured" by treatment of the line with te ... | 2008 | 18820434 |
| modes of acquisition of wolbachia: horizontal transfer, hybrid introgression, and codivergence in the nasonia species complex. | wolbachia are maternally inherited bacteria that infect a large number of insects and are responsible for different reproductive alterations of their hosts. one of the key features of wolbachia biology is its ability to move within and between host species, which contributes to the impressive diversity and range of infected hosts. using multiple wolbachia genes, including five developed for multi-locus sequence typing (mlst), the diversity and modes of movement of wolbachia within the wasp genus ... | 2009 | 18826448 |
| wolbachia bacterial infection in drosophila. | 2007 | 18830425 | |
| host adaptation of a wolbachia strain after long-term serial passage in mosquito cell lines. | the horizontal transfer of the bacterium wolbachia pipientis between invertebrate hosts hinges on the ability of wolbachia to adapt to new intracellular environments. the experimental transfer of wolbachia between distantly related host species often results in the loss of infection, presumably due to an inability of wolbachia to adapt quickly to the new host. to examine the process of adaptation to a novel host, we transferred a life-shortening wolbachia strain, wmelpop, from the fruit fly dros ... | 2008 | 18836024 |
| wolbachia in the culex pipiens group mosquitoes: introgression and superinfection. | wolbachia bacteria in mosquitoes induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (ci), where sperm from wolbachia-infected males can produce inviable progeny. the wpip strain in the culex pipiens group of mosquitoes produces a complexity of ci crossing types. several factors are thought to be capable of influencing the expression of ci including wolbachia strain type and host genotype. in this study, the unidirectional ci that occurs between 2 c. pipiens complex laboratory strains, col and mol, was further i ... | 2009 | 18836146 |
| efficacy of 5-week doxycycline treatment on adult onchocerca volvulus. | the effects of 5-week doxycycline treatment on the depletion of wolbachia endobacteria from onchocerca volvulus, on the interruption of embryogenesis and on microfilariae production, and with regard to macrofilaricidal activity were studied. in 2003, in an endemic area in ghana, 22 onchocerciasis patients received 100 mg/day doxycycline for 5 weeks. two years after the start of the study, 20 treated and ten untreated patients were nodulectomized and skin microfilariae were counted. the onchocerc ... | 2009 | 18850111 |
| dirofilaria immitis and wolbachia-derived antigens: its effect on endothelial mammal cells. | antigens of both dirofilaria immitis and wolbachia symbiont bacteria are implicated in the inflammatory pathology of heartworm infection. the aim of the present study was to compare the stimulatory capacity of in vitro cultures of vascular endothelial cells by the adult somatic antigens of d. immitis (disa) and the recombinant form of the wolbachia surface protein (rwsp), during the first 24h of stimulation. our results indicate a different stimulatory activity of the two antigens. both the disa ... | 2008 | 18922634 |
| heartworm and wolbachia: therapeutic implications. | a safer, more effective adulticidal treatment and a safe method for reducing microfilaremia and breaking transmission of heartworm disease early in the treatment are needed. the present study evaluated efficacy of ivermectin (ivm) and doxycycline (doxy) alone or together (with or without melarsomine [mel]) in dogs with induced adult heartworm infection and assessed the ability of microfilariae from doxy-treated dogs to develop to l3 in aedes aegypti mosquitoes and subsequently to become reproduc ... | 2008 | 18930598 |
| prevalence of the endosymbiont wolbachia in heartworms (dirofilaria immitis). | 2008 | 18931357 | |
| insights beyond wolbachia-drosophila interactions: never completely trust a model: insights from cytoplasmic incompatibility beyond wolbachia-drosophila interactions. | 2008 | 18941470 | |
| wolbachia and its influence on the pathology and immunology of dirofilaria immitis infection. | since the definitive identification in 1995 of the bacterial endosymbiont wolbachia that resides in different tissues of the filarial worm dirofilaria immitis, there has been increasing interest to understand whether and what role it plays in the pathogenesis of and immune response to heartworm infection. the present study evaluated the effects of treatments on lung pathology in 20 beagle dogs experimentally infected with d. immitis. dogs in group 1 were treated with doxycycline (10 mg/kg/day) o ... | 2008 | 18947926 |
| the genome of brugia malayi - all worms are not created equal. | filarial nematode parasites, the causative agents of elephantiasis and river blindness, undermine the livelihoods of over one hundred million people in the developing world. recently, the filarial genome project reported the draft sequence of the ~95 mb genome of the human filarial parasite brugia malayi - the first parasitic nematode genome to be sequenced. comparative genome analysis with the prevailing model nematode caenorhabditis elegans revealed similarities and differences in genome struc ... | 2009 | 18952001 |
| phylogeography and genetic diversity of a widespread old world butterfly, lampides boeticus (lepidoptera: lycaenidae). | evolutionary genetics provides a rich theoretical framework for empirical studies of phylogeography. investigations of intraspecific genetic variation can uncover new putative species while allowing inference into the evolutionary origin and history of extant populations. with a distribution on four continents ranging throughout most of the old world, lampides boeticus (lepidoptera: lycaenidae) is one of the most widely distributed species of butterfly. it is placed in a monotypic genus with no ... | 2008 | 18973689 |
| parasitism and mutualism in wolbachia: what the phylogenomic trees can and cannot say. | ecological and evolutionary theories predict that parasitism and mutualism are not fixed endpoints of the symbiotic spectrum. rather, parasitism and mutualism may be host or environment dependent, induced by the same genetic machinery, and shifted due to selection. these models presume the existence of genetic or environmental variation that can spur incipient changes in symbiotic lifestyle. however, for obligate intracellular bacteria whose genomes are highly reduced, studies specify that discr ... | 2009 | 18974066 |