Biology subjects

Rodrigues, A. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Rodrigues, A. E..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Are you my mother?: When host genetics and gut microbiota tell different phylogenetic stories in the Africanized honey bee hybrid (Apis mellifera scutellata x sspp.)

Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x sspp.) originated in Brazil through the crossbreeding of African (A. mellifera scutellata) and European (A. mellifera sspp.) honey bee subspecies. African genes came to dominate in these hybrid honey bees over time. Gut microbiota co-evolve with their hosts and generally reflect host phylogeny. To examine if this was true in Africanized honey bee hybrids, we compared the gut microbiota (16S rRNA) of 3 honey bee subspecies: African, European, and Africanized honey bees. Publicly available sequencing data from five honey bee studies were downloaded from NCBI. European bee samples (n=42) came from United Kingdom, Switzerland, and United States. African bee samples (n=82) came from Kenya. Africanized bee samples (n=10) came from Brazil. Unexpectedly, Africanized honey bee gut microbiota was far more similar to European bees than to African bees despite the closer host genetic relationship between African and Africanized bees. All three subspecies shared similar relative abundances of core taxa. We posit that the similarity in gut microbiota between Africanized and European honey bees arose from the nature of the crossbreeding, and the social / environmental transmission of gut microbiota within hives. Namely, African queens took over European hives. However, the hybrid offspring acquired their gut microbiota from European nurse bees and European hive materials, resulting in the stable transmission of European gut microbiota across generations. Our results provide an intriguing insight into the potential ecological, social, and environmental factors that shape the gut microbiota of the Africanized honey bee hybrid. ImportanceAfricanized honey bee hybrids originated in Brazil through the crossbreeding of African and European honey bee subspecies. In this study, we examined the gut microbiota of all 3 honey bee subspecies (African, European, Africanized). A few core microbiota were shared across all subspecies. Interestingly, while African honey bee genes dominated in the Africanized honey bee hybrids, their gut microbial composition was most similar to European bees. This is likely related to the way these bees were crossbred - with African queens taking over European hives, while gut microbial inoculation of hybrids came from European nurse bees and European hive matierals. Gut microbiota are critical to honey bee health, and studying the gut microbiota of closely related honey bee subspecies helps understand the factors that influence gut microbial composition. This is important for our broader understanding of honey bee health, conservation, and evolution.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Retrospective transcriptome analyses identify LINC01013 as an activation marker in human dermal fibroblasts

Study of fibroblast biology, including the process of fibroblast activation, is critical to our understanding of wound healing, tissue fibrosis, and cancer. However, the rapid adoption of next-generation sequencing technologies, particularly single-cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics, has revealed that fibroblast heterogeneity of both healthy and pathological tissues is more complicated than we currently understand. Therefore, a better understanding of molecular players that are not only indicative of but also that contribute to fibroblast activation is critical to piecing together the complete picture and to informing therapeutic strategies to combat associated pathologies. Here we focus on a long-noncoding RNA, LINC01013, recently implicated in pathological activation of cardiac fibroblasts and valvular interstitial cell. We analyze several sets of publicly available human transcriptomic data with the aim of determining whether LINC01013 correlates with fibroblast activation state, and whether compounds that affect fibroblast activation also modulate expression of LINC01013. We find that, in numerous independent datasets of healthy and diseased human fibroblasts, LINC01013 expression is associated with fibroblast activation. We also describe that, even in datasets comprised of small sample sizes, statistically significant correlations exist between expression of LINC01013 and expression of fibroblast activation markers ACTA2 and CCN2. This finding, while preliminary, suggests that changes in LINC01013 expression may be an indicator of changes in fibroblast activation state, and that LINC01013 might functionally contribute to fibroblast activation, lending potential rationale for greater exploration of this lncRNA in the context of tissue fibrosis or tumor stroma.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Zinc and laboratory emerge date impact honey bee gut microbiota and survival

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) may be exposed to a wide variety of chemicals in the environment, including pesticides, antibiotics, and metals. Zinc, for example, is commonly included in fertilizers, pesticides, and feed additives, and is found in agricultural runoff. Honey bees can be exposed to zinc directly or indirectly by consuming zinc-contaminated nectar and pollen. However, there is a paucity of studies addressing the putative effects of zinc on honey bees health. In this study, we tested the effects of zinc on honey bee survivorship and gut microbiota. To evaluate survivorship, we exposed bees to six concentrations of zinc (0, 50, 100, 250, 500, or 1000 mg/L) and assessed survival daily for 10 days. To evaluate effects of zinc on gut microbiota, we exposed bees to 5 or 100 mg/L zinc. Bees were sampled before (day 0) and after zinc exposure (days 3, 6, and 9). Abdominal contents underwent DNA extraction and 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V4) on an Illumina MiSeq. Sequences were filtered and processed through QIIME2 and DADA2. Zinc treatment had minimal effects on bacterial DNA concentrations and absolute cell counts while emerge date (the date a bee emerged from the brood comb) had a significant effect with decreased bacterial concentrations and cell counts observed at later emerge dates. Survival was only minimally impacted (>89% survival) at zinc concentrations up to 100 mg/L. Zinc had limited effects on overall gut microbial composition, diversity, and taxonomic abundances, with the greatest differences noted in the bee group exposed to the higher concentration of zinc (100 mg/L). In this group, several beneficial taxa (Lactobacillus, Rhizobiaceae, Gilliamella) were found at reduced abundances, while Paenibacillus, a potentially pathogenic taxa, was found at increased abundances. This suggests that zinc exposure, even at relatively low levels, may negatively impact honey bee health, even if survivorship is not dramatically impacted. Notably, emerge date effects were also observed in microbial composition. These results demonstrate the need to include assessments of honey bee gut microbiota in addition to other metrics of honey bee health and survivorship when evaluating the potential effects of agrochemicals on honey bees

ecology↗

bioRxiv2021

Tetracycline exposure alters key gut microbiota in Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp.)

Honey bees play a critical role in ecosystem health, biodiversity maintenance, and crop yield. Antimicrobials, such as tetracyclines, are used widely used across agriculture, medicine, and in bee keeping, and bees can be directly or indirectly exposed to tetracycline residues in the environment. In European honey bees, tetracycline exposure has been linked with shifts in the gut microbiota that negatively impact bee health. However, the effects of antimicrobials on Africanized honey bee gut microbiota have not been examined. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of tetracycline exposure on the gut microbial community of Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata x spp), which are important pollinators in South, Central, and North America. Bees (n=1,000) were collected from hives in Areia-PB, Northeastern Brazil, placed into plastic chambers and kept under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. The control group (CON) was fed daily with syrup (10g) consisting of a 1:1 solution of demerara sugar and water, plus a solid protein diet (10g) composed of 60% soy extract and 40% sugar syrup. The tetracycline group (TET) was fed identically but with the addition of tetracycline hydrochloride (450 {micro}g/g) to the sugar syrup. Bees were sampled from each group before (day 0), and after tetracycline exposure (days 3, 6 and 9). Abdominal contents dissected out of each bee underwent DNA extraction and 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V4) on an Illumina MiSeq. Sequences were filtered and processed through QIIME2 and DADA2. Microbial community composition and diversity and differentially abundant taxa were evaluated by treatment and time. Bee gut microbial composition (Jaccard) and diversity (Shannon) differed significantly and increasingly over time and between CON and TET groups. Tetracycline exposure was associated with decreased relative abundances of Bombella and Fructobacillus, along with decreases in key core microbiota such as Snodgrassella, Gilliamella, Rhizobiaceae, and Apibacter. These microbes are critical for nutrient metabolism and pathogen defense, and decreased abundances of these microbes could negatively affect bee health. Considering the global ecological and economic importance of honey bees as pollinators, it is critical to understand the effects of agrochemicals including antimicrobials on honey bees.

ecology↗