Thesis (Ph.D) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Molecular Biosciences, 2002. / Bibliography: leaves 363-381.

A leishmaniose, doença parasitária vetoriada causada por protozoários do gênero Leishmania, é uma das principais doenças tropicais negligenciadas do mundo. Os medicamentos atualmente disponíveis para o tratamento das leishmanioses são insatisfatórios, principalmente devido à baixa efetividade dos mesmos, surgimento de resistência do parasito ou reações adversas graves apresentadas pelos pacientes. Nas últimas décadas, tem havido um interesse renovado em produtos naturais derivados de micro-organismos como fonte para a concepção de novas drogas. As bactérias entomopatogênicas Xenorhabdus nematophila e Photorhabdus luminescens produzem grande número de metabólitos secundários, muitos deles têm efeitos tóxicos específicos sobre as células eucarióticas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a atividade leishmanicida de sobrenadantes de culturas destas bactérias. Os testes in vitro foram realizados sobre formas promastigotas e amastigotas de Leishmania amazonensis e incluíram o efeito citotóxico dos sobrenadantes sobre macrófagos. Ambos os sobrenadantes de culturas de P. luminescens e X. nematophila mostraram atividade leishmanicida significativa contra as formas promastigotas de L. amazonensis (valores de CI50 de 7,5 % e 0,63 % (v/v), respectivamente). O sobrenadante de cultura de X. nematophila foi o mais efetivo e o mais estável ao calor. Além disso, ambos os sobrenadantes de culturas continham pequenas moléculas que estimularam a atividade leishmanicida de macrófagos por um mecanismo independente de óxido nítrico. Estes resultados revelaram que estas bactérias entomopatogênicas são fontes potenciais para a concepção de novos medicamentos contra a leishmaniose. / Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania, is one of the main neglected tropical diseases in the world. The drugs currently available for the treatment are unsatisfactory, mainly due to their low effectiveness, parasite resistance emergence or serious adverse reactions presented by the patients. In recent decades, there has been a renewed interest in natural products derived from microorganisms as a source for the design of new drugs. The Entomopathogenic bacteria Xenorhabdus nematophila and Photorhabdus luminescens produce a large number of secondary metabolites, many of them have specific toxic effects on eukaryotic cells. The objective of this study was to evaluate the leishmanicidal activity of these bacteria culture supernatants. In vitro tests were performed on promastigote and amastigote forms of L. amazonensis and included the cytotoxic effect of the supernatants on macrophages. Both supernatants from P. luminescens and X. nematophila cultures showed significant leishmanicidal activity against promastigotes forms of L. amazonensis (IC50 values of 7.5% and 0.63 % (v/v), respectively). The supernatant from X. nematophila was the most effective and more heat-stable. Furthermore, both culture supernatants contained small molecules that stimulated the leishmanicidal activity of macrophages by a mechanism independent of nitric oxide. These results revealed that these entomopathogenic bacteria are potential sources for the development of new drugs against leishmaniasis.

Entomopathogenic Steinernema nematodes (Nematoda: Steinernematidae) have a mutualistic relationship with Xenorhabdus bacteria (Gamma-Proteobacteria Enterobacteriaceae). The two partners form an insecticidal alliance that is successful in killing a wide range of insects. A few studies have shown that Steinernema IJs have an enhanced virulence and reproductive fitness when they associate with their cognate symbionts. However, there are unanswered questions regarding the physiological interactions that govern and perpetuate the interactions between different nematode developmental stages and their bacterial partners. In this study, we evaluated gonad development and maturation time of first-generation adults of S. carpocapsae and S. feltiae adults when reared under four bacterial scenarios: a) cognate symbiotic, b) non-cognate symbiotic bacterial strain, c) non-cognate symbiotic bacterial species and d) non-symbiotic bacteria (Serratia proteamaculans). For comparative purposes, we also considered adult nematodes reared in vivo in Galleria mellonella larvae to assess nematode development under natural conditions. Furthermore, in this study we also measured production of nematode pheromones (ascarosides), which play a key role in mating and reproduction. For this purpose, we considered in vitro rearing methods (with cognate and non-cognate Xenorhabdus symbionts) to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize ascarosides produced by first-generation adults. Our data showed that for both Steinernema spp. tested, time to adult maturation and gonad development was tightly dependent on the bacterial conditions under which juveniles were reared. However, contrasting results were observed when assessing total body length and gonad size. S. feltiae males and females size (body length and width) and respective gonad length were smaller when reared with a non-cognate symbiotic species. Additionally, non-symbiotic bacteria did not sustain S. feltiae maturation to adult stages. Contrarily, S. carpocapsae juveniles developed to adults when reared with any of the bacterial conditions tested, including with non-symbiotic Serratia proteamaculans. Additionally, S. carpocapsae adults, unlike S. feltiae, did not exhibit enhanced body and gonad size when reared with their cognate symbiont. In fact, S. carpocapsae males and females had larger gonad lengths when reared with a non-cognate symbiotic strain, XnAna (X. nematophila associated with S. anatoliense). S. carpocapsae males and females had significantly underdeveloped gonads when reared with non-symbiotic bacteria. In both Steinernema spp., sex ratio was not impacted by the bacterial condition. However, sex ratio (female:male) S. carpocapsae, decreased from 2:1 to 1:1 when reared with non-symbiotic bacteria. The body and gonad sizes of Steinernema spp. reared in vitro with their cognate symbiont were significantly smaller than those grown in vivo. Ascaroside production in either Steinernema spp. was not significantly impacted by the rearing conditions. In S. carpocapsae, a significant increase in glucoside-1 was observed when the nematodes were reared with cognate or non-cognate bacteria. No detectable quantities of asc-C11 were produced by S. feltiae nematodes when reared with a non-cognate symbiotic bacterial species. We conclude that bacterial symbionts influenced maturation and development of first-generation adults’ in both Steinernema spp. tested in this study. However, response to the bacterial symbionts was species specific. Additionally, this study showed that Xenorhabdus as a food source plays an important role in the type and amount of ascarosides produced by Steinernema spp.

Bibliography: leaves 363-381.

Bibliography: leaves 363-381. / ix, 381 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Molecular Biosciences, 2002

Nematodes in the genus Steinernema (Nematoda: Steinernematidae) and their associated bacteria Xenorhabdus spp. (Gamma-Proteobacteria) are an emergent model of terrestrial animal-microbe symbiosis. Although interest in this association initially arose out of their potential as biocontrol agents against insect pests (Tanada and Kaya, 1993), this mutualistic partnership is currently viewed more broadly under the umbrella of basic sciences to inform ecology, evolution, biochemistry, molecular, among other disciplines (Burnell and Stock, 2000; Forst and Clarke, 2002).Despite advances in the discovery and field application of this nematode-bacterium partnership, and the growing popularity of this model system, relatively little has been published to uncover the evolutionary facets of their association. This study adds to the body of knowledge regarding nematode-bacteria symbiosis by 1) producing novel, multi-gene phylogenies for Steinernema and Xenorhabdus; 2) proposing a possible scenario for historical association in the form of a cophylogenetic hypothesis; 3) describing a newly discovered Steinernema species from France.

Les entérobactéries du genre Xenorhabdus sont pathogènes de larves d'insectes et symbiotiques de nématodes du genre Steinernema. En lutte biologique, les couples Steinernema-Xenorhabdus sont utilisés contre un large spectre d'insectes ravageurs de culture. Les deux partenaires du couple modèle Steinernema carpocapsae-Xenorhabdus nematophila peuvent être expérimentalement dissociés tout en restant pathogènes pour les insectes. En revanche, certaines souches de Xenorhabdus sont non-virulentes lorsqu'elles sont injectées directement dans une larve d'insecte. L'objectif de cette thèse est de caractériser deux souches non-virulentes de Xenorhabdus, X. poinarii G6 (Xp G6) et X. bovienii CS03 (Xb CS03). Les souches appartenant à l'espèce non-virulente X. poinarii possèdent des génomes de petite taille. Nous avons mis en évidence un phénomène de réduction génomique due à la délétion de larges régions génomiques chez la souche Xp G6. Cette évolution pourrait avoir eu lieu suite à un transfert des fonctions bactériennes de virulence à son nématode hôte et/ou à sa spécialisation envers certains coléoptères. Au sein de l'espèce X. bovienii, Xb CS03 est non-virulente par injection dans les lépidoptères Spodoptera littoralis et Galleria mellonella. Par rapport à d'autres couples némato-bactériens Steinernema sp.-X. bovienii, le couple formé par Xb CS03 et son nématode symbiotique S. weiseri 583 présente également une virulence atténuée sur ces lépidoptères. Le génome de Xb CS03 est de très grande taille et contient un grand nombre de gènes dégradés (pseudogènes). Une comparaison génomique entre Xb CS03 et une souche virulente appartenant à la même espèce, X. bovienii SS-2004 (Xb SS-2004), montre que Xb CS03 est plus riche que Xb SS-2004 en gènes codant des chaînes d'assemblage enzymatiques NRPS/PKS (non-ribosomal peptide synthase/polyketide synthethase) produisant des métabolites antimicrobiens potentiels. A l'inverse, Xb SS-2004 contient davantage de gènes codant des facteurs de virulence de type hémolysine, adhésine ou systèmes de sécrétion. Ceci suggère deux scénarios évolutifs différents, privilégiant une forte virulence pour Xb SS-2004 et l'élimination des compétiteurs au sein du cadavre de l'insecte pour Xb CS03. Enfin, une recherche de facteurs de virulence potentiels a été effectuée par une approche de génomique comparative entre les souches non-virulentes Xp G6 et Xb CS03, d'une part et trois souches de Xenorhabdus virulentes, d'autre part. L'analyse fonctionnelle de gènes candidats a été entamée. En conclusion, la caractérisation de nouveaux modèles bactériens dans le genre Xenorhabdus ouvre le champ à l'identification de nouvelles stratégies de virulence et de nouveaux facteurs de virulence chez les bactéries entomopathogènes. / Xenorhabdus are enterobacteria pathogenic of insect larvae and symbiotic of nematodes from the Steinernema genus. The Steinernema-Xenorhabdus associations are used against a wide range of insect pests. The two partners of the model Steinernema carpocapsae-Xenorhabdus nematophila association can be experimentally dissociated. Each partner is pathogenic for insect larvae. Contrarily, some other Xenorhabdus strains are non-virulent when injected directly into insect larvae. In this thesis, we characterized two non-virulent Xenorhabdus strains, X. poinarii G6 (Xp G6) and X. bovienii CS03 (Xb CS03). Strains from the X. poinarii species had small-sized genomes. We showed that the Xp G6 strain had undergone a genome reduction due to the deletion of large genomic regions. Transfer of virulence functions from the bacteria to the nematode and/or the specialization of the association towards coleopteran insects are likely the cause of this evolution. Within the X. bovienii species, Xb CS03 was non-virulent strain when injected into the Spodoptera littoralis and Galleria mellonella lepidopteran insects. When compared to other Steinernema-X. bovienii pairs, the association between Xb CS03 and its symbiotic nematode S. weiseri 583 had also a lower virulence on those insects. Xb CS03 had a large-sized genome and harbored numerous degraded genes (pseudogenes). Genome comparison between Xb CS03 and a virulent strain from the same species, X. bovienii SS-2004 (Xb SS-2004), showed that Xb CS03 contained more loci encoding NRPS/PKS enzymes (non-ribosomal peptide synthase/polyketide synthethase), producing potential antimicrobial metabolites, than Xb SS-2004. On the other hand, Xb SS-2004 contained more genes encoding virulence factors such as hemolysins, adhesins or secretion systems. This suggests that the two strains followed different evolutionary scenarios, favoring strong virulence in Xb SS-2204 and elimination of competitors for Xb CS03.Finally, we searched for potential virulence factors by comparing the genomes of the non-virulent strains Xp G6 and Xb CS03 with three virulent strains. Functional analyses of the candidates are in progress. In conclusion, characterizing new bacterial models in the Xenorhabdus genus paves the way for the identification of new virulence strategies and new virulence genes in entomopathogenic bacteria.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Natural Resource Sciences. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/06/08). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1998. / Restricted until November 1999. Bibliography: leaves 126-135.

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