Isolation of antibacterial response genes from the dung beetle Copris tripartitus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) immunized with Escherichia coli

Hwang, Jae‐Sam; Kim, Yeon-Ju; Bang, Hyunwoo; Yun, Eun‐Young; Kim, Youngtae; Kim, Seong-Ryul; Park, Kwan-Ho; Nam-Soon, Kim; Kim, Iksoo; Hwang, Seok-Jo; Jeon, Jae‐Pil

doi:10.14411/eje.2008.042

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…However, an alternative mechanism might be antimicrobial properties present on the carapace of the beetle, as found in ants [ 40 ]. Hwang et al [ 41 ] isolated antimicrobial response genes responding to E . coli from the dung beetle Copris triparititus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), indicating natural anti-microbial properties are possessed by at least some dung beetles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suppression of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Using the Lowbush Blueberry Agroecosystem as a Model System

et al. 2015

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Wildlife as a source of microbial contamination is a food safety concern. Deer feces (scat) have been determined as a point source for Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination of fresh produce. The ecological role of the scooped scarab (Onthophagus hecate (Panzer)), a generalist dung beetle species common in Maine blueberry fields, was explored as a biological control agent and alternatively as a pathogen vector between deer scat and food.A large-scale field survey of wildlife scat indicated that pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 was present, albeit at a low prevalence (1.9% of samples, n = 318), in the Maine lowbush blueberry agroecosystem. A manipulative field experiment verified that, should contact occur between deer scat and blueberry plants and fruit during the summer, contamination with E. coli O157:H7 can occur and persist for more than 72 h. For both the positive control and an experimental scat inoculation treatment, the levels of the bacterial population decreased over time, but at different rates (treatment x time interaction: F (1.9,18.8) = 358.486, P < 0.0001). The positive control inoculation, which resulted in a higher initial E. coli level on fruit, decayed at a faster rate than inoculation of fruit via scat in the experimental treatment.We conducted 2 laboratory studies to elucidate aspects of dung beetle feeding ecology as it relates to suppression of E. coli O157:H7 from deer scat to lowbush blueberry fruit. In both experiments, dung beetles buried the same amount of scat whether or not the scat was inoculated with the pathogen (F (1,6) = 0.001; P = 0.999 and (F (2,17) = 4.10, P = 0.147). Beetles feeding on E. coli inoculated deer scat were not found to vector the pathogen to fruit. In two studies, beetles lowered the amount of pathogenic E. coli persisting in soils compared to soils without beetles (F (2,9) = 7.757; P = 0.05 and F (2,17) = 8.0621, P = 0.004).Our study suggests that the dung beetle species, Onthophagus hecate, has the potential to contribute to the suppression of E. coli O157:H7 in agricultural landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suppression of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Using the Lowbush Blueberry Agroecosystem as a Model System

et al. 2015

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“…Thirteen individual cDNA transcripts were identified as differentially expressed sequences by the dot blot hybridization [13]. One of the up-regulated genes (hereinafter referred to as Coprisin) is a novel member of a family of antibacterial peptides known as insect defensin-like peptides (Figure 1(a)).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an initial screening process, a total of 1862 cDNA clones were randomly selected from a full-length cDNA library, spotted onto Hybond-N membranes (Amersham Biosciences, Uppsala, Sweden) using a 96-well format dot blotter (Bio-RAD) and then hybridized with probes from bacteria-injected larvae as described previously [ 13 ]. Coprisin cDNA clones were identified by a dot blot hybridization.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Total RNA was extracted with a Trizol reagent (Life technologies, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD, USA) from the whole larvae 0, 4, 8, 16, and 24 hours after E. coli injection and quantified by ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy. Northern blot analysis was performed as described previously [ 13 ]. Briefly, 10 μ g of total RNA was fractionated on 1% agarose/6.7% formaldehyde.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isolation and Characterization of a Defensin-Like Peptide (Coprisin) from the Dung Beetle,Copris tripartitus

Hwang

Lee

Kim

et al. 2009

International Journal of Peptides

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The antibacterial activity of immune-related peptides, identified by a differential gene expression analysis, was investigated to suggest novel antibacterial peptides. A cDNA encoding a defensin-like peptide, Coprisin, was isolated from bacteria-immunized dung beetle, Copris tripartitus, by using differential dot blot hybridization. Northern blot analysis showed that Coprisin mRNA was up-regulated from 4 hours after bacteria injection and its expression level was reached a peak at 16 hours. The deduced amino acid sequence of Coprisin was composed of 80 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 8.6 kDa and a pI of 8.7. The amino acid sequence of mature Coprisin was found to be 79.1% and 67.4% identical to those of defensin-like peptides of Anomala cuprea and Allomyrina dichotoma, respectively. We also investigated active sequences of Coprisin by using amino acid modification. The result showed that the 9-mer peptide, LLCIALRKK-NH2, exhibited potent antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

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“…Our study did not examine specific mechanisms that might underlie this apparent harm to the pathogens, but previous studies suggest some possible directions for future investigation. For dung beetles, it has been suggested that, in addition to the physical damage cause by masticatory and gastrointestinal systems (Miller, Chi‐Rodriguez, & Nichols, ), some insects’ exoskeletons possess antimicrobial properties, perhaps as a means to suppress microbial food competitors also common in faeces (Hwang et al., ). It is also likely that when the dung beetles physically disturbed the manure, the subsequent desiccation of the manure caused a less suitable environment for the pathogen (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic farming promotes biotic resistance to foodborne human pathogens

Jones

Reganold

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Farmland biodiversity benefits pollination, biological control and other key ecosystemservices.Foodsafetyhasbeenseenasanexceptiontothisbroader pattern,asdiversefarmlandsattractwildlifethatvectorfoodbornehumanpathogens. Resulting mitigation efforts thus often seek to deter wildlife by removing natural habitats, while also excluding vertebrate livestock. However, surprising recentevidencesuggeststhatfarmsimplificationactuallyincreasesthelikelihood thatproducewillbecontaminatedwithhumanpathogens. 2. Here,weconsiderthepossibilitythatintensifiedagricultureharmsfaeces-feeding (coprophagous)beetlesandbacteria,whichcouldcontributetoheightenedfoodsafetyrisk.In70commercialvegetablefieldsspanningtheUSwestcoast,using eitherorganicorconventionalfarmingmethods,wesurveyedcoprophagesboth above-andbelow-ground.WealsomeasuredremovalratesofthefaecesofSus scrofa,whichvectorsfoodbornepathogensbothaslivestockandasferalwildlife. 3. Above-ground,organicfarmsfostereddungbeetlespeciesthatremovedS. scrofa faecesmorerapidlythanwasseenonconventionalfarms,althoughthisbenefit wasweakenedinsimplifiedlandscapesdominatedbypastureandanintroduced dungbeetle.Below-ground,organicfarmingencouragedsignificantlyhigherbiodiversityamongsoilbacteria.Organicfarmingsimilarlybenefitteddungbeetles andbacteriaonfarmsthatproducedlivestockalongsidevegetables,orvegetables alone. 4. Complementary laboratory experiments revealed that the dung beetle species andbiodiversebacterialassemblagestypicaloforganicfarmsweresignificantly moreeffectiveatsuppressinghuman-pathogenicEscherichia coliO157:H7,comparedtocoprophagecommunitiesassociatedwithconventionalfarms.Thissuggests that farm management practices, coprophage conservation, and human-pathogensuppressionmightbelinked. ThisisanopenaccessarticleunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense,whichpermitsuse,distributionandreproductioninanymedium, providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited.

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Isolation of antibacterial response genes from the dung beetle Copris tripartitus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) immunized with Escherichia coli

Cited by 4 publications

References 38 publications

Suppression of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Using the Lowbush Blueberry Agroecosystem as a Model System

Suppression of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Using the Lowbush Blueberry Agroecosystem as a Model System

Isolation and Characterization of a Defensin-Like Peptide (Coprisin) from the Dung Beetle,Copris tripartitus

Organic farming promotes biotic resistance to foodborne human pathogens

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