Dataset Information

Exploring Micro-Eukaryotic Diversity in the Gut: Co-occurrence of Blastocystis Subtypes and Other Protists in Zoo Animals.

ABSTRACT: Blastocystis is a genetically diverse microbial eukaryote thriving in the gut of humans and other animals. While Blastocystis has been linked with gastrointestinal disorders, its pathogenicity remains controversial. Previous reports have suggested that one out of six humans could be carrying Blastocystis in their gut, while the numbers could be even higher in animals. Most studies on Blastocystis are either exclusively targeting the organism itself and/or the associated prokaryotic microbiome, while co-occurrence of other microbial eukaryotes has been mainly ignored. Herein, we aimed to explore presence and genetic diversity of Blastocystis along with the commonly occurring eukaryotes Cryptosporidium, Eimeria, Entamoeba and Giardia in the gut of asymptomatic animals from two conservation parks in the United Kingdom. Building upon a previous study, a total of 231 fecal samples were collected from 38 vertebrates, which included 12 carnivorous and 26 non-carnivorous species. None of the animals examined herein showed gastrointestinal symptoms. The barcoding region of the small subunit ribosomal RNA was used for subtyping of Blastocystis. Overall, 47% of animal species were positive for Blastocystis. Twenty six percent of samples carried more than one subtypes, including the newly identified hosts Scottish wildcat, bongo and lynx. Fifty three percent of samples carried at least another microbial eukaryote. Herewith, we discuss potential implications of these findings and the increasingly blurred definition of microbial parasites.

SUBMITTER: Betts EL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7052370 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Exploring Micro-Eukaryotic Diversity in the Gut: Co-occurrence of Blastocystis Subtypes and Other Protists in Zoo Animals.

Betts Emma L EL Gentekaki Eleni E Tsaousis Anastasios D AD

Frontiers in microbiology 20200225

Blastocystis is a genetically diverse microbial eukaryote thriving in the gut of humans and other animals. While Blastocystis has been linked with gastrointestinal disorders, its pathogenicity remains controversial. Previous reports have suggested that one out of six humans could be carrying Blastocystis in their gut, while the numbers could be even higher in animals. Most studies on Blastocystis are either exclusively targeting the organism itself and/or the associat ...[more]

PMID: 32161577

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Project description:Recent studies indicate that next to antibiotic resistance, bacteria are able to subsist on antibiotics as a carbon source. Here we evaluated the potential of gut bacteria from healthy human volunteers and zoo animals to subsist on antibiotics. Nine gut isolates of Escherichia coli and Cellulosimicrobium sp. displayed increases in colony forming units (CFU) during incubations in minimal medium with only antibiotics added, i.e., the antibiotic subsistence phenotype. Furthermore, laboratory strains of E. coli and Pseudomonas putida equipped with the aminoglycoside 3' phosphotransferase II gene also displayed the subsistence phenotype on aminoglycosides. In order to address which endogenous genes could be involved in these subsistence phenotypes, the broad-range glycosyl-hydrolase inhibiting iminosugar deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) was used. Addition of DNJ to minimal medium containing glucose showed initial growth retardation of resistant E. coli, which was rapidly recovered to normal growth. In contrast, addition of DNJ to minimal medium containing kanamycin arrested resistant E. coli growth, suggesting that glycosyl-hydrolases were involved in the subsistence phenotype. However, antibiotic degradation experiments showed no reduction in kanamycin, even though the number of CFUs increased. Although antibiotic subsistence phenotypes are readily observed in bacterial species, and are even found in susceptible laboratory strains carrying standard resistance genes, we conclude there is a discrepancy between the observed antibiotic subsistence phenotype and actual antibiotic degradation. Based on these results we can hypothesize that aminoglycoside modifying enzymes might first inactivate the antibiotic (i.e., by acetylation of amino groups, modification of hydroxyl groups by adenylation and phosphorylation respectively), before the subsequent action of catabolic enzymes. Even though we do not dispute that antibiotics could be used as a single carbon source, our observations show that antibiotic subsistence should be carefully examined with precise degradation studies, and that its mechanistic basis remains inconclusive.

Dataset Information

Exploring Micro-Eukaryotic Diversity in the Gut: Co-occurrence of Blastocystis Subtypes and Other Protists in Zoo Animals.

Publications

Exploring Micro-Eukaryotic Diversity in the Gut: Co-occurrence of <i>Blastocystis</i> Subtypes and Other Protists in Zoo Animals.

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