Insect Vectors of Disease: Untapped Reservoirs for New Antimicrobials?

Abstract

With the increase in antibiotic resistance among infectious diseases, the need for new strategies for identifying compounds with inhibitory effects is dire. Traditional methods of genome sequencing and systematic characterization of potential antimicrobial gene clusters, although effective, are unfortunately not yielding results at a speed consistent with the rise in antimicrobial resistance. One approach could be to use a more targeted approach to antimicrobial compound discovery. Insect vectors often mediate the transmissions of parasitic infections for example, leishmaniasis, malaria, and trypanosomiasis. Within the insect, among the pathogens, are commensal and/or obligate symbiotic bacteria, which often undergo a population shift upon colonization of the insect host. The remaining bacteria may be either resistant to the effects of the respective parasites, or possibly essential for a successful colonization and continued spread of the parasite due to an obligate symbiosis between bacteria and insect host. Interestingly, these shifts are often toward groups of bacteria known to harbor many polyketide synthase and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase gene clusters involved in bioactive molecule production. This perspective explores the possibility to exploit the natural interactions between parasite, symbiont, and insect host for a more targeted approach toward natural product discovery, in an environment where potential compound producers are naturally interfacing with human pathogens.

Long-Term Warming Shifts the Composition of Bacterial Communities in the Phyllosphere of Galium album in a Permanent Grassland Field-Experiment

“…The higher relative abundance of Buchnera and Wolbachia on leaves of G. album were an indicator of increased numbers of arthropods and filarial nematodes with elevated temperature, which can represent a vector for potential human diseases ( Tobias, 2016 ).…”

The maternal foam plug constitutes a reservoir for the desert locust's bacterial symbionts

“…Acetophenone has also been identified in the gaseous fraction emitted from foam plugs secreted by S. gregaria females (Rai et al, 1997). It is thus plausible that the acetophenone in the foam enriches Corynebacterium species that, in turn, can produce antibiotic substances (Gumiel et al, 2015;Tobias, 2016). The female locust thereby may be 'feeding' the bacteria that in turn contribute to protecting its eggs.…”

Biodiversity genomics of small metazoans: high qualityde novogenomes from single specimens of field-collected and ethanol-preserved springtails

“…Information on these products might be encoded in the genomes of the metazoans themselves (Faddeeva-Vakhrusheva et al, 2017;Drukewitz & von Reumont, 2019), or in the microbial symbionts which are co-sequenced with their hosts (Agamennone, 2019;Tobias, 2016). Genome- Length of the NUMTs (green) compared to the mitogenome (blue) and the mean CCS length (orange).…”