Antimicrobial Protection of Marsupial Pouch Young

Cheng, Yuanyuan; Belov, Katherine

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.00354

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(92 reference statements)

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“…This early exposure of the joey—with its underdeveloped immune system—to the environment poses a challenge as microbial infections could lead to joey mortality. The marsupial pouch provides an enclosed physical space separate to the environment, and facilitates the passive transfer of antimicrobial peptides and immunoglobulins to the joey through milk which are believed to play a significant role in the immune protection during their pouch life [ 3 , 4 ]. In addition, it is thought that changes to the pouch environment itself occur through pouch secretions, which could in turn influence pouch microbial community composition [ 4 – 6 ], perhaps to a protective state.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host reproductive cycle influences the pouch microbiota of wild southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

et al. 2021

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Background Marsupials are born much earlier than placental mammals, with most crawling from the birth canal to the protective marsupium (pouch) to further their development. However, little is known about the microbiology of the pouch and how it changes throughout a marsupial’s reproductive cycle. Here, using stringent controls, we characterized the microbial composition of multiple body sites from 26 wild Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats (SHNWs), including pouch samples from animals at different reproductive stages. Results Using qPCR of the 16S rRNA gene we detected a microbial community in the SHNW pouch. We observed significant differences in microbial composition and diversity between the body sites tested, as well as between pouch samples from different reproductive stages. The pouches of reproductively active females had drastically lower microbial diversity (mean ASV richness 19 ± 8) compared to reproductively inactive females (mean ASV richness 941 ± 393) and were dominated by gram positive bacteria from the Actinobacteriota phylum (81.7–90.6%), with the dominant families classified as Brevibacteriaceae, Corynebacteriaceae, Microbacteriaceae, and Dietziaceae. Three of the five most abundant sequences identified in reproductively active pouches had closest matches to microbes previously isolated from tammar wallaby pouches. Conclusions This study represents the first contamination-controlled investigation into the marsupial pouch microbiota, and sets a rigorous framework for future pouch microbiota studies. Our results indicate that SHNW pouches contain communities of microorganisms that are substantially altered by the host reproductive cycle. We recommend further investigation into the roles that pouch microorganisms may play in marsupial reproductive health and joey survival.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host reproductive cycle influences the pouch microbiota of wild southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

et al. 2021

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“…It was demonstrated that ancient AMPs from Australian marsupial kill antibiotic-resistant pathogens efficiently compared to human cathelicidin LL-37 (Wang et al, 2011 ). Several studies demonstrated the antimicrobial effect of AMPs from marsupial mammals and how these peptides protect the marsupial pouch (Cheng and Belov, 2017 ; Peel et al, 2017 ). An effective AMP could also help the opossum to fight against T. cruzi when trapped in ETs as known for LL-37 in humans or PR-39 in pigs (Neumann et al, 2014 ; de Buhr et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extracellular Trap Formation in Response to Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Granulocytes Isolated From Dogs and Common Opossums, Natural Reservoir Hosts

et al. 2018

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Granulocytes mediate the first line of defense against infectious diseases in humans as well as animals and they are well known as multitasking cells. They can mediate antimicrobial activity by different strategies depending on the pathogen they encounter. Besides phagocytosis, a key strategy against extracellular pathogens is the formation of extracellular traps (ETs). Those ETs mainly consist of DNA decorated with antimicrobial components and mediate entrapment of various pathogens. In the last years, various studies described ET formation as response to bacteria, viruses and parasites e.g., Trypanosma (T.) cruzi. Nevertheless, it is not fully understood, if ET formation helps the immune system to eliminate intracellular parasites. The goal of this study was to analyze ET formation in response to the intracellular parasite Trypanosma (T.) cruzi by granulocytes derived from animals that serve as natural reservoir. Thus, we investigated the ET formation in two T. cruzi reservoirs, namely dogs as domestic animal and common opossums (Didelphis marsupialis) as wild animal. Granulocytes were harvested from fresh blood by density gradient centrifugation and afterwards incubated with T. cruzi. We conducted the analysis by determination of free DNA and immunofluorescence microscopy. Using both methods, we show that T. cruzi efficiently induces ET formation in granulocytes derived from common opossum as well as dog blood. Most ETs from both animal species as response to T. cruzi are decorated with the protease neutrophil elastase. Since T. cruzi is well known to circulate over years in both analyzed animals as reservoirs, it may be assumed that T. cruzi efficiently evades ET-mediated killing in those animals. Therefore, ETs may not play a major role in efficient elimination of the pathogen from the blood of dogs or common opossums as T. cruzi survives in niches of their body. The characterization of granulocytes in various animals and humans may be helpful to understand the anti-pathogenic capacity and overall role of ETs against zoonotic pathogens like T. cruzi.

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“…This early exposure of the joey-with its underdeveloped immune system-to the environment poses a challenge as microbial infections could lead to joey mortality. The marsupial pouch provides an enclosed physical space separate to the environment, and facilitates the passive transfer of antimicrobial peptides and immunoglobulins to the joey through milk which are believed to play a significant role in the immune protection during their pouch life [3,4]. In addition, it is thought that changes to the pouch environment itself occur through pouch secretions, which could in turn influence pouch microbial community composition [4,5], perhaps to a protective state.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host reproductive cycle influences the pouch microbiota of wild Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

Weiss

Taggart

Smith

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background Marsupials are born much earlier than placental mammals, with most crawling from the birth canal to the protective marsupium (pouch) to further their development. However, little is known about the microbiology of the pouch and how it changes throughout a marsupial’s reproductive cycle. Here, using stringent controls, we characterized the microbial composition of multiple body sites from 26 wild Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats (SHNWs), including pouch samples from animals at different reproductive stages. Results Using qPCR of the 16S rRNA gene we detected a microbial community in the SHNW pouch. We observed significant differences in microbial composition and diversity between the body sites tested, as well as between pouch samples from different reproductive stages. The pouches of reproductively active females had drastically lower microbial diversity (mean ASV richness 19 ± 8) compared to reproductively inactive females (mean ASV richness 941 ± 393) and were dominated by gram positive bacteria from the Actinobacteriota phylum (81.7-90.6%), with the dominant families classified as Brevibacteriaceae, Corynebacteriaceae, Microbacteriaceae, and Dietziaceae. Three of the five most abundant sequences identified in reproductively active pouches had closest matches to microbes previously isolated from tammar wallaby pouches. Conclusions This study represents the first contamination-controlled investigation into the marsupial pouch microbiota, and sets a rigorous framework for future pouch microbiota studies. Our results indicate that SHNW pouches contain communities of microorganisms that are substantially altered by the host reproductive cycle. We recommend further investigation into the roles that pouch microorganisms may play in marsupial reproductive health and joey survival.

show abstract

Antimicrobial Protection of Marsupial Pouch Young

Cited by 18 publications

References 49 publications

Host reproductive cycle influences the pouch microbiota of wild southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

Host reproductive cycle influences the pouch microbiota of wild southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

Extracellular Trap Formation in Response to Trypanosoma cruzi Infection in Granulocytes Isolated From Dogs and Common Opossums, Natural Reservoir Hosts

Host reproductive cycle influences the pouch microbiota of wild Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons)

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