Biology subjects

Prado, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Prado, A..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Blautia wexlerae Transforms Dietary Fatty Acids to Activate Enteroendocrine Signaling and Improve Metabolic Health in Mice and Humans

Metabolites produced by the gut microbiome influence host metabolic health, but how this occurs remains incompletely defined. Here, we report that a common human gut commensal, Blautia wexlerae, converts dietary fats into bioactive metabolites that induce gut hormone production to affect glucose metabolism and suppress appetite. We found that colonization with Blautia wexlerae correlated with healthier eating behaviors in humans. Blautia wexlerae encodes a unique acyl transferase and is capable of producing acyl amines from nutrient substrates. These Blautia acyl amines stimulated human enteroendocrine cells to secrete GLP-1 and other gut peptide hormones more potently than endogenously produced acyl amines. When fed to mice, acyl amines improved glycemic control and decreased appetite. In humans, higher stool levels of Blautia DNA encoding acyl amine synthesis genes correlated with leanness and decreased dietary fat intake. These results define a mechanism of action for how Blautia wexlerae affects host metabolic control.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Honey bees change the microbiota of pollen

Pollen, as all other plant tissues, harbors different microorganisms. As honey bees (Apis mellifera) collect and pack pollen they add regurgitated nectar to moisten and glue the pollen grains, possibly changing the microbial composition. In this study, we compared the microbiota of clean Brassica napus pollen with that of bee-worked corbicular pollen. We found that by working pollen, bees increase the bacterial diversity of pollen, by adding honey bee symbionts such as Bombella, Frischella, Gilliamella and Snodgrassella, bee pathogens as Spiroplasma and nectar dwelling Lactobacillus to the new pollen microbiota. The bee gut is an important source of inoculum of the corbicular pollen microbiota. We discuss the implications of these findings and propose future research avenues.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Phenotype-dependent habitat choice is too weak to cause assortative mating between Drosophila melanogaster strains differing in light sensitivity

Over the last few years, matching habitat choice has gained attention as a mechanism for maintaining biodiversity and driving speciation. It revolves around the idea that individuals select the habitat in which they perceive to obtain greater fitness after a prior evaluation of their local performance across heterogeneous environments. This results in individuals with similar ecological traits converging to the same patches, and hence could indirectly cause assortative mating when mating occurs in those patches. White-eyed mutants of Drosophila fruit flies have a series of disadvantages compared to wild type flies, including a poorer performance under bright light. It has been previously reported that, when given a choice, wild type Drosophila simulans preferred a brightly lit habitat while white-eyed mutants occupied a dimly lit one. This spatial segregation allowed the eye color polymorphism to be maintained for several generations, whereas normally it is quickly replaced by the wild type. Here we compare the habitat choice decisions of white-eyed and wild type flies in another species, D. melanogaster. We released groups of flies in a light gradient and recorded their departure and settlement behavior. Departure depended on sex and phenotype, but not on the light conditions of the release point. Settlement depended on sex, and on the interaction between phenotype and light conditions of the point of settlement. Nonetheless, simulations showed that this differential habitat use by the phenotypes would only cause a minimal degree of assortative mating in this species.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Insect pollination is an ecological process involved in the assembly of the seed microbiota

The assembly of the seed microbiota involves some early microbial seed colonizers that are transmitted from the maternal plant through the vascular system, while other microbes enter through the stigma. Thus, the seed microbiota consists of microbes not only recruited from the vascular tissues of the plant, but also from the flower. Flowers are known to be a hub for microbial transmission between plants and insects. This floral-insect exchange opens the possibility for insect-transmitted bacteria to colonize the ovule and subsequently the seed, and to pass then into the next plant generation. In this study, we evaluated the contribution of insect pollination to the seed microbiota through high-throughput sequencing. Oilseed rape (OSR) Brassica napus flowers were exposed to visits and pollination by honey bees (Apis mellifera) or red mason bees (Osmia bicornis), hand pollination, or autonomous self-pollination (ASP). Sequence analyses revealed that honey bee visitation reduced the bacterial richness and diversity, increased the variability in the seed microbial structure, and introduced bee-associated taxa. In contrast, mason bee pollination had minor effects on the seed microbiota. We highlight the need to consider insect pollination as an ecological process involved in the transmission of bacteria from flower to seeds.\n\nIMPORTANCEInsect pollinators and flowering plants have a very old mutualistic relationship in which animal mobility is used for the dispersal of pollen. The pollination services provided by insects are extremely important to many natural plant populations as well as agricultural crops. Here we show that while visiting flowers, insect pollinators can disperse bacteria that are able to colonize the developing seed via the flower. Hence, insect pollination participates in the assembly of the seed microbiota, the inoculum for the next plant generation. This novel insight has important implications in terms of re-assessing pollinator services by including microbe transfer.

microbiology↗