Jack Pilgrim1, Panupong Thongprem1, Helen R Davison1, Stefanos Siozios1, Matthew Baylis1,2, Evgeny V Zakharov3, Sujeevan Ratnasingham3, Jeremy R deWaard3, Craig R Macadam4, M Alex Smith5, Gregory D D Hurst1. 1. Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Leahurst Campus, Chester High Road, Neston, Wirral CH64 7TE, UK. 2. Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, University of Liverpool, 8 West Derby Street, Liverpool L69 7BE, UK. 3. Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1, Canada. 4. Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Balallan House, 24 Allan Park, Stirling FK8 2QG, UK. 5. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Summerlee Science Complex, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rickettsia are intracellular bacteria best known as the causative agents of human and animal diseases. Although these medically important Rickettsia are often transmitted via haematophagous arthropods, other Rickettsia, such as those in the Torix group, appear to reside exclusively in invertebrates and protists with no secondary vertebrate host. Importantly, little is known about the diversity or host range of Torix group Rickettsia. RESULTS: This study describes the serendipitous discovery of Rickettsia amplicons in the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), a sequence database specifically designed for the curation of mitochondrial DNA barcodes. Of 184,585 barcode sequences analysed, Rickettsia is observed in ∼0.41% of barcode submissions and is more likely to be found than Wolbachia (0.17%). The Torix group of Rickettsia are shown to account for 95% of all unintended amplifications from the genus. A further targeted PCR screen of 1,612 individuals from 169 terrestrial and aquatic invertebrate species identified mostly Torix strains and supports the "aquatic hot spot" hypothesis for Torix infection. Furthermore, the analysis of 1,341 SRA deposits indicates that Torix infections represent a significant proportion of all Rickettsia symbioses found in arthropod genome projects. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports a previous hypothesis that suggests that Torix Rickettsia are overrepresented in aquatic insects. In addition, multiple methods reveal further putative hot spots of Torix Rickettsia infection, including in phloem-feeding bugs, parasitoid wasps, spiders, and vectors of disease. The unknown host effects and transmission strategies of these endosymbionts make these newly discovered associations important to inform future directions of investigation involving the understudied Torix Rickettsia.
BACKGROUND:Rickettsia are intracellular bacteria best known as the causative agents of human and animal diseases. Although these medically important Rickettsia are often transmitted via haematophagous arthropods, other Rickettsia, such as those in the Torix group, appear to reside exclusively in invertebrates and protists with no secondary vertebrate host. Importantly, little is known about the diversity or host range of Torix group Rickettsia. RESULTS: This study describes the serendipitous discovery of Rickettsia amplicons in the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), a sequence database specifically designed for the curation of mitochondrial DNA barcodes. Of 184,585 barcode sequences analysed, Rickettsia is observed in ∼0.41% of barcode submissions and is more likely to be found than Wolbachia (0.17%). The Torix group of Rickettsia are shown to account for 95% of all unintended amplifications from the genus. A further targeted PCR screen of 1,612 individuals from 169 terrestrial and aquatic invertebrate species identified mostly Torix strains and supports the "aquatic hot spot" hypothesis for Torix infection. Furthermore, the analysis of 1,341 SRA deposits indicates that Torix infections represent a significant proportion of all Rickettsia symbioses found in arthropod genome projects. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports a previous hypothesis that suggests that Torix Rickettsia are overrepresented in aquatic insects. In addition, multiple methods reveal further putative hot spots of Torix Rickettsia infection, including in phloem-feeding bugs, parasitoid wasps, spiders, and vectors of disease. The unknown host effects and transmission strategies of these endosymbionts make these newly discovered associations important to inform future directions of investigation involving the understudied Torix Rickettsia.
Authors: M Alex Smith; Claudia Bertrand; Kate Crosby; Eldon S Eveleigh; Jose Fernandez-Triana; Brian L Fisher; Jason Gibbs; Mehrdad Hajibabaei; Winnie Hallwachs; Katharine Hind; Jan Hrcek; Da-Wei Huang; Milan Janda; Daniel H Janzen; Yanwei Li; Scott E Miller; Laurence Packer; Donald Quicke; Sujeevan Ratnasingham; Josephine Rodriguez; Rodolphe Rougerie; Mark R Shaw; Cory Sheffield; Julie K Stahlhut; Dirk Steinke; James Whitfield; Monty Wood; Xin Zhou Journal: PLoS One Date: 2012-05-02 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Helen R Davison; Jack Pilgrim; Nicky Wybouw; Joseph Parker; Stacy Pirro; Simon Hunter-Barnett; Paul M Campbell; Frances Blow; Alistair C Darby; Gregory D D Hurst; Stefanos Siozios Journal: Nat Commun Date: 2022-05-12 Impact factor: 17.694
Authors: Nicole Y Burkhardt; Lisa D Price; Xin-Ru Wang; Chan C Heu; Gerald D Baldridge; Ulrike G Munderloh; Timothy J Kurtti Journal: Appl Environ Microbiol Date: 2022-03-24 Impact factor: 4.792