Biology subjects

Campos, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Campos, M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Genetic heterogeneity in Anopheles darlingi related to biting behavior in western Amazon

In the Amazon Basin, Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) darlingi is the most aggressive and effective malaria vector. In endemic areas, behavioral aspects of anopheline species such as host preference, biting time and resting location after a blood meal have a key impact on malaria transmission dynamics and transmission control strategies. An. darlingi present a variety in behavior throughout its broad distribution including blood feeding related. To investigate the genetic basis of its biting behaviors, host-seeking An. darlingi were collected in two settlements (Granada and Remansinho) in Acre, Brazil. Mosquitoes were classified by captured location (indoors or outdoors) and time (dusk or dawn). Genome-wide SNPs were used to assess the degree of genetic diversity and structure in these groups. There was evidence of genetic component of biting behavior regarding both location and time in this species. This study supports that An. darlingi blood-feeding behavior has a genetic component. Additional ecological and genomic studies may help to understand the genetic basis of mosquito behavior and address appropriate surveillance and vector control.\n\nAuthor SummaryMalaria is a disease caused by parasite of the genus Plasmodium and is transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. In the Amazon Basin, the main malaria vector is Anopheles darlingi, which is present in high densities in this region. Egg development requires that females of this mosquito seek hosts for blood meals. Anopheles females blood feeding may occur indoor or outdoor the houses and typically from the sunset to dawn. Anopheles darlingi in particular present great variability regarding its behaviour, presenting variety of peak biting times and patterns. This work shows that there is a genetic component that partially explains these two behaviors: location of the blood meal (inside or outside the houses) and time of feeding. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) scattered throughout the genome of Anopheles darlingi showed genetic diversity and structure in these groups. A comprehensive understanding of the genetic basis for mosquito behaviour may support innovative vector surveillance and control strategies.

epidemiology↗

bioRxiv2018

Multi-Hierarchical Dynamics of Antimicrobial Resistance Simulated in a Nested Membrane Computing Model

Membrane Computing is a bio-inspired computing paradigm, whose devices are the so-called membrane systems or P systems. The P system designed in this work reproduces complex biological landscapes in the computer world. It uses nested \"membrane-surrounded entities\" able to divide, propagate and die, be transferred into other membranes, exchange informative material according to flexible rules, mutate and being selected by external agents. This allows the exploration of hierarchical interactive dynamics resulting from the probabilistic interaction of genes (phenotypes), clones, species, hosts, environments, and antibiotic challenges. Our model facilitates analysis of several aspects of the rules that govern the multi-level evolutionary biology of antibiotic resistance. We examine a number of selected landscapes where we predict the effects of different rates of patient flow from hospital to the community and viceversa, cross-transmission rates between patients with bacterial propagules of different sizes, the proportion of patients treated with antibiotics, antibiotics and dosing in opening spaces in the microbiota where resistant phenotypes multiply. We can also evaluate the selective strength of some drugs and the influence of the time-0 resistance composition of the species and bacterial clones in the evolution of resistance phenotypes. In summary, we provide case studies analyzing the hierarchical dynamics of antibiotic resistance using a novel computing model with reciprocity within and between levels of biological organization, a type of approach that may be expanded in the multi-level analysis of complex microbial landscapes.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2017

Genome-wide phenotypic analysis of growth, cell morphogenesis and cellcycle events in Escherichia coli.

Cell size, cell growth and the cell cycle are necessarily intertwined to achieve robust bacterial replication. Yet, a comprehensive and integrated view of these fundamental processes is lacking. Here, we describe an image-based quantitative screen of the single-gene knockout collection of Escherichia coli, and identify many new genes involved in cell morphogenesis, population growth, nucleoid (bulk chromosome) dynamics and cell division. Functional analyses, together with high-dimensional classification, unveil new associations of morphological and cell cycle phenotypes with specific functions and pathways. Additionally, correlation analysis across ~4,000 genetic perturbations shows that growth rate is surprisingly not predictive of cell size. Growth rate was also uncorrelated with the relative timings of nucleoid separation and cell constriction. Rather, our analysis identifies scaling relationships between cell size and nucleoid size and between nucleoid size and the relative timings of nucleoid separation and cell division. These connections suggest that the nucleoid links cell morphogenesis to the cell cycle.\n\n\n\nO_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=121 SRC=\"FIGDIR/small/101832_ufig1.gif\" ALT=\"Figure 1\">\nView larger version (43K):\norg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@63d469org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@e7117org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@22a436org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4b0167_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

microbiology↗