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Symbiont succession during embryonic development of the European medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana.

ABSTRACT: The European medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana, harbors simple microbial communities in the digestive tract and bladder. The colonization history, infection frequency, and growth dynamics of symbionts through host embryogenesis are described using diagnostic PCR and quantitative PCR. Symbiont species displayed diversity in temporal establishment and proliferation through leech development.

SUBMITTER: Rio RV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2772434 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Symbiont succession during embryonic development of the European medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana.

Rio Rita V M RV Maltz Michele M McCormick Benjamin B Reiss Alexander A Graf Joerg J

Applied and environmental microbiology 20090731 21

The European medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana, harbors simple microbial communities in the digestive tract and bladder. The colonization history, infection frequency, and growth dynamics of symbionts through host embryogenesis are described using diagnostic PCR and quantitative PCR. Symbiont species displayed diversity in temporal establishment and proliferation through leech development. ...[more]

PMID: 19648363

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Characterization of a monoacylglycerol lipase in the medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana.

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Project description:Here, we report the use of Illumina RNA-Seq for investigating the physiology of the digestive-tract microbiome within the medicinal leech, Hirudo verbana. About 12 million cDNA reads were mapped against the genomes of the two dominant members of this simple microbiome. Results suggested that the most abundant, yet uncultured Rikenella-like bacterium forages host mucin glycans and ferments the carbohydrates to acetate that is secreted into the environment. The second dominant symbiont, Aeromonas veronii, appears to utilize the acetate secreted by Rikenella as a carbon and energy source, possibly linking the physiologies of the dominant symbionts. This study demonstrates how RNA-seq can be used to reveal the physiology of a naturally occurring microbiome.

2011-03-25 | GSE23786 | GEO

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