Biology subjects

Marie, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Marie, A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Spatial scale influences taxon conservation in the eukaryotic virome of a mosquito

Our knowledge on the diversity of eukaryotic viruses has recently undergone a massive expansion. This diversity could influence host physiology through yet unknown phenomena of potential interest to the fields of health and food production. However, the assembly processes in eukaryotic viromes of terrestrial animals remain elusive. This situation hinders hypothesis-driven tests of virome influence on host physiology. Here, we explore virome assembly at different spatial scales in the eukaryotic virome of the mosquito Culex pipiens. This mosquito is a vector of human pathogens worldwide. Several new aspects of virome assembly were unveiled through a sampling involving five countries in Africa and Europe and large sample sizes. A group of viruses was conserved in C. pipiens populations in all countries. This core group represented a relatively large and diverse fraction of the virome. However, core viruses were not shared by all host individuals in a given country, and their infection rates fluctuated between countries and years. Moreover, the distribution of co-infections in individual mosquitoes suggested random co-occurrence of certain core viruses. We also observed differences in the virome depending on geography, with viromes tending to cluster depending on the continent. Thus, our results unveil that taxon conservation in a eukaryotic virome changes with spatial scale. Thus, predictions on virome assembly seem possible at a large geographical scale in C. pipiens. IMPORTANCEThe study of the eukaryotic virome of mosquitoes is an emerging research field. Beyond its fundamental interest, this field could lead to the development of control tools against the transmission of mosquito-borne human pathogens. However, we yet know little on the assembly patterns in the eukaryotic viromes of mosquitoes, as well as of terrestrial animals in general. This situation hampers the design of hypothesis-driven studies on the influence of the virome on pathogen transmission. Here, we have analyzed virome assembly in the mosquito vector Culex pipiens within and between countries in Africa and Europe. Our results show that integrating contrasted spatial scales allows to identify deterministic patterns in virome assembly. Such patterns can guide future studies of virome influence on mosquito physiology.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Molecular Acclimation of Halobacterium salinarum to Halite Brine Inclusions

1Halophilic microorganisms have long been known to survive within the brine inclusions of salt crystals, as evidenced by the change in color for salt crystals containing pigmented halophiles. However, the molecular mechanisms allowing this survival has remained an open question for decades. While protocols for the surface sterilization of halite (NaCl) have enabled isolation of cells and DNA from within halite brine inclusions, "-omics" based approaches have faced two main technical challenges: (1) removal of all contaminating organic biomolecules (including proteins) from halite surfaces, and (2) performing selective biomolecule extractions directly from cells contained within halite brine inclusions with sufficient speed to avoid modifications in gene expression during extraction. In this study, we present methods to resolve these two technical challenges. In addition, we apply these methods to perform the first examination of the early acclimation of a model haloarchaeon (Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1) to halite brine inclusions. Examinations of the proteome of Halobacterium cells two months post-evaporation revealed a high degree of similarity with stationary phase liquid cultures, but with a sharp down-regulation of ribosomal proteins. Low quantities of RNA from halite brine inclusions corroborate the hypothesis of low transcriptional and translational activities. While proteins for central metabolism were part of the shared proteome between liquid cultures and halite brine inclusions, proteins involved in cell mobility (archaellum, gas vesicles) were either absent or less abundant in halite samples. Proteins unique to cells within brine inclusions included transporters, suggesting modified interactions between cells and the surrounding brine inclusion microenvironment. The methods and hypotheses presented here enable future studies of the survival of halophiles in both culture model and natural halite systems.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

The mosquito microbiome includes habitat-specific but rare symbionts

Microbial communities are known to influence mosquito lifestyles by modifying essential metabolic and behavioral processes that affect reproduction, development, immunity, digestion, egg survival, and ability to transmit pathogens. Many studies have used 16S rRNA gene amplicons to characterize mosquito microbiota and investigate factors that influence host-microbiota dynamics. However, a relatively low taxonomic resolution due to clustering methods based on arbitrary threshold and the overall dominance of Wolbachia or Asaia populations obscured the investigation of rare members of mosquito microbiota in previous studies. Here, we used high resolution Shannon entropy-based oligotyping approaches to analyze the microbiota of Culex pipiens, Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes individuals from continental and overseas regions in Southern France and Guadeloupe as well as from laboratories with or without antibiotics treatment. Our experimental design that resulted in a series of mosquito samples with a gradient of Wolbachia density and relative abundance along with high-resolution analyses of amplicon sequences enabled the recovery of a robust signal from typically less accessible bacterial taxa. Our data confirm species-specific mosquito-bacteria associations with geography as a primary factor that influences bacterial community structure. But interestingly, they also reveal co-occurring symbiotic bacterial variants within single individuals for both Elizabethkingia and Erwinia genera, distinct and specific Asaia and Chryseobacterium in continental and overseas territories and a putative rare Wolbachia variant. Overall, our study reveals the presence of previously-overlooked microdiversity and multiple closely related symbiotic strains within mosquito individuals with a remarkable habitat-specificity.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

First isolation of virulent Tenacibaculum maritimum strains from diseased orbicular batfish (Platax orbicularis) farmed in Tahiti Island

The orbicular batfish (Platax orbicularis), also called Paraha peue in Tahitian, is the most important marine fish species reared in French Polynesia. Sudden and widespread outbreaks of severe white-patch disease have occurred since 2011 in batfish farms one to three weeks after the transfer of juveniles from bio-secured hatcheries to lagoon cages. With cumulative mortality ranging from 20 to 90%, the sustainability of aquaculture of this species is severely threatened. In this study, we describe for the first time the isolation from diseased batfish of several strains belonging to the species Tenacibaculum maritimum, a major pathogen of many marine fish species. Histopathological analysis, an experimental bath challenge and a field monitoring study showed that T. maritimum is associated with white-patch disease. Moreover, molecular and serological analyses performed on representative strains revealed some degree of genetic diversity among the isolates, a finding of primary importance for epidemiological studies and for the development of management and control strategies such as vaccination.

pathology↗

bioRxiv2018

Global metabolomic characterizations of Microcystis spp. highlights clonal diversity in natural bloom-forming populations and expands metabolite structural diversity

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes that are able to synthetize a wild rang of secondary metabolites exhibiting noticeable bioactivity, comprising toxicity. Microcystis represents one of the most common cyanobacteria taxa constituting the intensive blooms that arise nowadays in freshwater ecosystems worldwide. They produce numerous cyanotoxins (toxic metabolites), which are potentially harmful to Human health and aquatic organisms. In order to better understand the variations in cyanotoxins production between clones of the Microcystis, we investigate the diversity of several strains isolated from the same blooms, from different populations in various geographical area.\n\nTwenty-four clonal strains were compared by genotyping with 16S-ITS fragment sequencing and metabolites chemotyping using LC ESI-qTOF mass spectrometry. While, genotyping can only discriminate between the different species, the global metabolomes reveal clear discriminant molecular profiles between strains. These profiles can be clustered primarily according to their global metabolite content, then to their genotype, and finally to their sampling localities. A global molecular network of all metabolites highlights the production of a wide set of chemically diverse metabolites, comprising only few microcystins, but many aeruginosins, cyanopeptolins and microginins, along with a large set of unknown molecules. They represent the molecular biodiversity that still remain to be investigated and characterized at their structure as well as at their potential bioactivity or toxicity levels.

microbiology↗