Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bonang M. Mochochoko, Carolina H. Pohl, Hester G. O'Neill
Summary: The human microbiome consists of trillions of microorganisms in different mucosal cavities and across the body surface. The gut microbiota regulates host susceptibility to viral infections and increases viral infectivity within the gut through microbial inter-kingdom interactions. Candida albicans, a common fungal species in the gut, forms structured biofilms and produces compounds such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) that protect and facilitate viral replication. These biofilms provide a shield against antiviral drugs and the immune system. PGE2, a key modulator of inflammation, can regulate interferon signaling during microbial invasion or viral infections. This review focuses on the inter-kingdom interactions between C. albicans and enteric viruses, particularly biofilms, PGE2, and viral replication. The implications of C. albicans-enteric virus associations on host immune responses, especially the interferon signaling pathway, are also discussed.
Review
Immunology
Abid Ali, Ismail Zeb, Abdulaziz Alouffi, Hafsa Zahid, Mashal M. Almutairi, Fahdah Ayed Alshammari, Mohammed Alrouji, Carlos Termignoni, Itabajara da Silva Vaz Junior, Tetsuya Tanaka
Summary: Tick salivary molecules play a crucial role in disarming host immunity, assisting blood-feeding, and facilitating pathogen transmission. The composition of tick saliva changes during the blood-feeding process to meet the tick's needs. Understanding the interactions between tick salivary components and host immune responses is essential for controlling ticks.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Imtiaz A. Khan, Magali Moretto
Summary: Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that can cause severe complications in newborns and immunocompromised individuals. It evokes a strong immune response, but chronic infection persists, possibly due to dysfunctionality of memory CD8 T cell response.
CURRENT OPINION IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Lisvane Paes-Vieira, Andre Luiz Gomes-Vieira, Jose Roberto Meyer-Fernandes
Summary: Belonging to the GDA1/CD39 protein superfamily, NTPDases catalyze the hydrolysis of ATP and ADP to AMP and Pi. Various isoforms have been described in different cells, with different specificities regarding divalent cations and substrates. NTPDases play a role in thrombosis and inflammation in mammals, and in parasites, their activity on the cell surface is crucial for processes like growth, infectivity, and virulence.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Lauren E. Fuess, Daniel Bolnick
Summary: The risk and severity of pathogen infections depend on host immune function, which can vary between host populations or individuals. Recent studies have focused on population divergence in immunity using whole-tissue transcriptomics. However, this method cannot distinguish between evolved differences in gene regulation within cells and changes in cell composition. In this study, we used single-cell transcriptomic approaches to document the microevolution of immune system structure in three-spined stickleback fish. We identified significant variation in immune cell abundance and expression profiles among different populations and demonstrated how this information can enhance the interpretation of traditional transcriptomic data.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Review
Microbiology
Carolina Ferreira, Jerome Estaquier, Ricardo Silvestre
Summary: Leishmania manipulates host metabolic pathways to evade the immune response, facilitating long-term survival and altering the metabolism of infected macrophages, which is linked to infection resistance. Studying the interactions between metabolism and innate immune cell function holds promise for therapeutic or prophylactic interventions.
CURRENT OPINION IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Kelly A. Speer
Summary: Parasitic and parasitoid organisms rely on chemical cues to locate a host. Recent research suggests that the microbiome can emit volatile organic compounds that attract or repel parasites. This innovative mechanism changes our understanding of host-parasite coevolution and highlights the role of the microbiome as a third actor in this interaction.
Review
Immunology
Caixia Ye, Lianhua Zhang, Lili Tang, Yongjun Duan, Ji Liu, Hongli Zhou
Summary: This review analyzes the impact of host genetic factors on parasite adaptation and establishes an interactive network to illustrate the complex relationship between host genetic factors and parasite-host adaptation. In addition, the review discusses future research directions and priorities in the parasite-host adaptation field, highlighting the need for comprehensive and systematic investigation of the underlying mechanisms.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Hongxiang Zhang, Singarayer Florentine, Kushan U. Tennakoon
Summary: This review examines the parasitic habits, distribution, and impact of Cassytha on host plants, as well as the influence of environmental changes on Cassytha-host interactions. It found that Cassytha prefers woody hosts and negatively affects their biomass and physiology. Additionally, Cassytha shows potential as a biocontrol agent.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Ophthalmology
Dimitrios Kalogeropoulos, Chris Kalogeropoulos, Hercules Sakkas, Bashar Mohammed, Georgios Vartholomatos, Konstantinos Malamos, Sreekanth Sreekantam, Panagiotis Kanavaros, Alejandra de-la-Torre
Summary: Ocular toxoplasmosis is a common cause of posterior uveitis, and research on its pathophysiology reveals a complex and multifactorial interaction between the parasite and host, with the need for further investigation.
OCULAR IMMUNOLOGY AND INFLAMMATION
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Rhys Brown, Emily Priest, Julian R. Naglik, Jonathan P. Richardson
Summary: Fungi produce toxins that have significant impacts on health, but our understanding of how these toxins modulate immune responses is still incomplete, requiring further research.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Juhyung Lee, Timothy M. Davidson, Mark E. Torchin
Summary: The host preference of symbionts evolves from fitness trade-offs, influenced by interspecific variations in host response traits. Less defended hosts that can support higher symbiont densities without harm are preferred by symbionts. Host response traits play a crucial role in modulating a symbiont's host choice, calling for more explicit considerations of host response variability in host preference research.
Review
Ecology
Tobias E. Hector, Kim L. Hoang, Jingdi Li, Kayla C. King
Summary: Global climate change is causing rising temperatures and increased extreme climatic events, which may determine species persistence through symbioses with microbes. Interactions with beneficial microbes can assist hosts in adapting to warming, while the effects of warming on the ecology and evolution of microbial symbionts remain understudied, but are crucial for understanding the impacts of climate change on host health and disease. We propose a framework to unravel the contributions of symbiosis in predicting host persistence under global change.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Yi-han Wei, Xi Ma, Jiang-Chao Zhao, Xiu-Qi Wang, Chun-Qi Gao
Summary: This review focuses on the role of succinate, a metabolite produced by both host cells and gut microbes, in activating intestinal mucosal cells and regulating the gut-immune tissue axis. It also explores its function as a mediator of microbiota-host crosstalk and its potential in regulating intestinal microbiota homeostasis. The review provides insights into feasible ways to modulate succinate levels and highlights succinate as a potential target for microbial therapeutics for humans.
Review
Virology
Marie Lork, Gauthier Lieber, Benjamin G. Hale
Summary: SUMOylation is a crucial post-translational modification involved in cellular stress responses and virus infections, impacting virus replication and antiviral defenses. Proteomic methodologies and SUMO proteomics have been instrumental in uncovering the dynamics of SUMOylation and innate immune mechanisms within cells.
Article
Ecology
Isabel S. Magalhaes, James R. Whiting, Daniele D'Agostino, Paul A. Hohenlohe, Muayad Mahmud, Michael A. Bell, Skuli Skulason, Andrew D. C. MacColl
Summary: This study investigates the levels of genomic parallelism and the factors predicting parallelism in adaptive radiations of three-spined stickleback. The findings suggest that quantitative variation in phenotypes and environments can predict genomic parallelism, and similar environments are a better predictor of genome-wide parallelism than similar phenotypes. Overall, the study highlights the importance of major phenotypic and environmental factors in shaping common patterns of genomic divergence.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Laura L. Dean, Hannah R. Dunstan, Amelia Reddish, Andrew D. C. MacColl
Summary: Ecological divergence in mating characteristics, particularly nesting microhabitat, may be more important than direct mate choice in maintaining reproductive isolation in stickleback species pairs.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Iris Mair, Andrew Wolfenden, Ann E. Lowe, Alex Bennett, Andrew Muir, Hannah Smith, Jonathan Fenn, Janette E. Bradley, Kathryn J. Else
Summary: Eosinophils in wild mice show significantly different characteristics compared to laboratory mice, with a unique Ly6G(hi) phenotype observed. Ly6G expression correlates with activation status in the spleen and bone marrow, but not in peritoneal exudate cells, indicating it may not be a specific activation marker.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
James R. Whiting, Josephine R. Paris, Mijke J. van der Zee, Paul J. Parsons, Detlef Weigel, Bonnie A. Fraser
Summary: Evidence of convergent evolution associated with HP-LP environments was found in the high- and low-predation populations of Trinidadian guppies, highlighting restrictions on the distribution of genetic variation between rivers. There was limited selection on common genes across drainages, but repeated selection on different genes involved in cadherin signaling. Constraints on genomic convergence were observed, but some repeatability in the genetic basis of convergent phenotypic evolution in this important model system was also demonstrated.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Quiterie Haenel, Laurent Guerard, Andrew D. C. MacColl, Daniel Berner
Summary: Adaptation to derived habitats can stem from standing genetic variation, with variants favored in new habitats potentially being neutral in ancestral populations. This suggests a potential mechanism for the maintenance of genetic variation that has been underappreciated.
Article
Ecology
James R. Whiting, Josephine R. Paris, Paul J. Parsons, Sophie Matthews, Yuridia Reynoso, Kimberly A. Hughes, David Reznick, Bonnie A. Fraser
Summary: The genetic basis of traits shapes and constrains how adaptation proceeds in nature. Guppy life history traits evolve rapidly and convergently in natural environments. Polygenic trait architectures may facilitate rapid phenotypic evolution but limit gene re-use across populations due to genetic redundancy.
Article
Ecology
James R. Whiting, Josephine R. Paris, Mijke J. van der Zee, Bonnie A. Fraser
Summary: This study presents a method called AF-vapeR that can identify genomic regions with highly correlated allele frequency changes. The method divides the genome into windows and performs eigen decomposition to compare the parallelism between different regions. By applying simulations and analyzing published datasets, the study demonstrates the utility and effectiveness of the method.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Mahmuda Begum, Victoria Nolan, Andrew D. C. MacColl
Summary: This study compared the evolutionary diversity of three-spined sticklebacks on the Scottish islands of North Uist and South Uist. It found that the sticklebacks on North Uist exhibited greater diversity in morphological traits, which was associated with greater diversity in the pH of the waters. In contrast, the sticklebacks on South Uist showed lower evolutionary diversity, possibly due to the absence or rarity of highly acidic and highly alkaline freshwater habitats.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Klara M. Wanelik, Mike Begon, Janette E. Bradley, Ida M. Friberg, Joseph A. Jackson, Christopher H. Taylor, Steve Paterson
Summary: The genotype of an individual plays a crucial role in determining their immune function and, consequently, their ability to control infections and contribute to the next generation. However, the same genotype can result in different outcomes due to different environments, which are often overlooked in laboratory studies. By studying natural wildlife populations, we found a gene polymorphism in field voles that affects immune gene expression, susceptibility to infection, and reproductive success in a sex-dependent manner.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Klara M. Wanelik, Mike Begon, Janette E. Bradley, Ida M. Friberg, Christopher H. Taylor, Joseph A. Jackson, Steve Paterson
Summary: Individuals vary in their immune responses, which affects their susceptibility to diseases and their overall health and fitness. These differences are thought to be influenced by early-life experiences that affect immune development. In this study, we examined how immune expression profiles in early life impact life history outcomes in a population of field voles. By analyzing the co-expression of immune genes, we found that certain clusters of genes were associated with reproductive success and susceptibility to bacterial infection later in life. Our findings highlight the long-lasting effects of early-life immune profiles on disease susceptibility and fitness in natural populations.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tom R. Booker, Sam Yeaman, James R. Whiting, Michael C. Whitlock
Summary: Genotype-environment association (GEA) studies are important in finding the genetic basis of local adaptation in natural populations. A new method called Weighted-Z Analysis (WZA) was proposed in this study, which combines information from closely linked sites to analyze genetic markers with correlation to the environment. The WZA outperformed single-SNP-based approaches in most cases, especially when a small number of individuals or demes were sampled. Some GEA methods exhibit high false positive rates, highlighting the need for more accurate methods like the WZA.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Megan Barnes, Brad Ebanks, Andrew MacColl, Lisa Chakrabarti
Summary: MS-222 is commonly used for euthanasia of fish, but its effects on mitochondrial respiration are not yet established. This study investigated the impact of MS-222 on oxidative phosphorylation in the brain and skeletal muscle of a model fish species. Differences in respiration were observed in the brain, but not in the skeletal muscle.