The Human Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, Harbors Bacteria Throughout the Parasite's Life Cycle

Fabio Formenti; Alba Cortés; Michela Deiana; Susannah Salter; Julian Parkhill; Matt Berriman; Gabriel Rinaldi; Cinzia Cantacessi

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiad288

The Human Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, Harbors Bacteria Throughout the Parasite's Life Cycle

Fabio Formenti, Alba Cortés, Michela Deiana, Susannah Salter, Julian Parkhill, Matt Berriman, Gabriel Rinaldi, Cinzia Cantacessi

Department of Life Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

While symbiotic relationships between invertebrates and bacteria have been extensively described, studies of microbial communities inhabiting parasitic worms remain scarce. Exploring the microbiota associated with helminths responsible for major infectious diseases will inform on parasite biology, host-pathogen interactions, and disease pathophysiology. We investigated the presence of microorganisms inhabiting tissues of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. In situ hybridization using a pan-bacterial 16S rRNA gene probe revealed bacteria colonizing key developmental stages that were successfully removed after antibiotic treatment of live parasites. Understanding the composition and function of the S. mansoni-associated microbiota may lead to the development of novel microbiome-targeting control strategies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1299-1303
Number of pages	5
Journal	The Journal of infectious diseases
Volume	228
Issue number	9
Early online date	24 Jul 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiad288
Publication status	Published - 01 Nov 2023

Keywords

fluorescence in situ hybridization
parasite-associated microbiota
schistosomes
Animals
Bacteria/genetics
Humans
Parasites/genetics
Schistosoma mansoni/genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics
Helminths
Life Cycle Stages
Schistosomiasis mansoni/parasitology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1093/infdis/jiad288

Permanent link

Persistent link

Cite this

@article{0f8e4a6a4839485593fbaa5d3c34425e,

title = "The Human Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, Harbors Bacteria Throughout the Parasite's Life Cycle",

abstract = "While symbiotic relationships between invertebrates and bacteria have been extensively described, studies of microbial communities inhabiting parasitic worms remain scarce. Exploring the microbiota associated with helminths responsible for major infectious diseases will inform on parasite biology, host-pathogen interactions, and disease pathophysiology. We investigated the presence of microorganisms inhabiting tissues of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. In situ hybridization using a pan-bacterial 16S rRNA gene probe revealed bacteria colonizing key developmental stages that were successfully removed after antibiotic treatment of live parasites. Understanding the composition and function of the S. mansoni-associated microbiota may lead to the development of novel microbiome-targeting control strategies.",

keywords = "fluorescence in situ hybridization, parasite-associated microbiota, schistosomes, Animals, Bacteria/genetics, Humans, Parasites/genetics, Schistosoma mansoni/genetics, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics, Helminths, Life Cycle Stages, Schistosomiasis mansoni/parasitology",

author = "Fabio Formenti and Alba Cort{\'e}s and Michela Deiana and Susannah Salter and Julian Parkhill and Matt Berriman and Gabriel Rinaldi and Cinzia Cantacessi",

note = "Funding Information: Financial support. This work was supported by the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Verona Italy (MPhil scholarship to F. F.); UK Research and Innovation (UKRI; Future Leaders Fellowship to G. R.); and the Ministry of Health Italy Fondi Ricerca Corrente-L3, P2 to IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Verona, Italy. C. C.{\textquoteright}s laboratory is supported by the UKRI and the Isaac Newton Trust. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the University of Cambridge. Funding Information: This work was supported by the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Verona Italy (MPhil scholarship to F. F.); UK Research and Innovation (UKRI; Future Leaders Fellowship to G. R.); and the Ministry of Health Italy Fondi Ricerca Corrente-L3, P2 to IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Verona, Italy. C. C.{\textquoteright}s laboratory is supported by the UKRI and the Isaac Newton Trust. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the University of Cambridge. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/infdis/jiad288",

language = "English",

volume = "228",

pages = "1299--1303",

journal = "The Journal of infectious diseases",

issn = "0022-1899",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "9",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Human Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, Harbors Bacteria Throughout the Parasite's Life Cycle

AU - Formenti, Fabio

AU - Cortés, Alba

AU - Deiana, Michela

AU - Salter, Susannah

AU - Parkhill, Julian

AU - Berriman, Matt

AU - Rinaldi, Gabriel

AU - Cantacessi, Cinzia

N1 - Funding Information: Financial support. This work was supported by the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Verona Italy (MPhil scholarship to F. F.); UK Research and Innovation (UKRI; Future Leaders Fellowship to G. R.); and the Ministry of Health Italy Fondi Ricerca Corrente-L3, P2 to IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Verona, Italy. C. C.’s laboratory is supported by the UKRI and the Isaac Newton Trust. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the University of Cambridge. Funding Information: This work was supported by the IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Verona Italy (MPhil scholarship to F. F.); UK Research and Innovation (UKRI; Future Leaders Fellowship to G. R.); and the Ministry of Health Italy Fondi Ricerca Corrente-L3, P2 to IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital, Verona, Italy. C. C.’s laboratory is supported by the UKRI and the Isaac Newton Trust. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the University of Cambridge. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.

PY - 2023/11/1

Y1 - 2023/11/1

N2 - While symbiotic relationships between invertebrates and bacteria have been extensively described, studies of microbial communities inhabiting parasitic worms remain scarce. Exploring the microbiota associated with helminths responsible for major infectious diseases will inform on parasite biology, host-pathogen interactions, and disease pathophysiology. We investigated the presence of microorganisms inhabiting tissues of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. In situ hybridization using a pan-bacterial 16S rRNA gene probe revealed bacteria colonizing key developmental stages that were successfully removed after antibiotic treatment of live parasites. Understanding the composition and function of the S. mansoni-associated microbiota may lead to the development of novel microbiome-targeting control strategies.

AB - While symbiotic relationships between invertebrates and bacteria have been extensively described, studies of microbial communities inhabiting parasitic worms remain scarce. Exploring the microbiota associated with helminths responsible for major infectious diseases will inform on parasite biology, host-pathogen interactions, and disease pathophysiology. We investigated the presence of microorganisms inhabiting tissues of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. In situ hybridization using a pan-bacterial 16S rRNA gene probe revealed bacteria colonizing key developmental stages that were successfully removed after antibiotic treatment of live parasites. Understanding the composition and function of the S. mansoni-associated microbiota may lead to the development of novel microbiome-targeting control strategies.

KW - fluorescence in situ hybridization

KW - parasite-associated microbiota

KW - schistosomes

KW - Animals

KW - Bacteria/genetics

KW - Humans

KW - Parasites/genetics

KW - Schistosoma mansoni/genetics

KW - RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics

KW - Helminths

KW - Life Cycle Stages

KW - Schistosomiasis mansoni/parasitology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176496286&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/infdis/jiad288

DO - 10.1093/infdis/jiad288

M3 - Article

C2 - 37487539

AN - SCOPUS:85176496286

SN - 0022-1899

VL - 228

SP - 1299

EP - 1303

JO - The Journal of infectious diseases

JF - The Journal of infectious diseases

IS - 9

ER -

The Human Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, Harbors Bacteria Throughout the Parasite's Life Cycle

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Permanent link

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Functional genomics to unveil the intramammalian development of schistosomes

Cite this

The Human Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, Harbors Bacteria Throughout the Parasite's Life Cycle

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Permanent link

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Functional genomics to unveil the intramammalian development of schistosomes

Cite this