TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential rickettsial transcription in bloodfeeding and non-bloodfeeding arthropod hosts
AU - Verhoeve, Victoria I.
AU - Jirakanwisal, Krit
AU - Utsuki, Tadanobu
AU - Macaluso, Kevin R.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank James Cavalcoli (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and for bioinformatics assistance, Vladimir Chouljenko and Sean Healy (Louisiana State University) for technical assistance, and Jacqueline Macaluso for helpful comments. This research was conducted as a component of VIV dissertation research. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health AI122672 and P30GM110760.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Verhoeve et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2016/9
Y1 - 2016/9
N2 - Crucial factors influencing the epidemiology of Rickettsia felis rickettsiosis include pathogenesis and transmission. Detection of R. felis DNA in a number of arthropod species has been reported, with characterized isolates, R. felis strain LSU and strain LSU-Lb, generated from the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, and the non-hematophagous booklouse, Liposcelis bostrychophila, respectively. While it is realized that strain influence on host biology varies, the rickettsial response to these distinct host environments remained undefined. To identify a panel of potential rickettsial transmission determinants in the cat flea, the transcriptional profile for these two strains of R. felis were compared in their arthropod hosts using RNA-seq. Rickettsial genes with increased transcription in the flea as compared to the booklouse were identified. Genes previously associated with bacterial virulence including LPS biosynthesis, Type IV secretion system, ABC transporters, and a toxin-antitoxin system were selected for further study. Transcription of putative virulence-associated genes was determined in a flea infection bioassay for both strains of R. felis. A host-dependent transcriptional profile during bloodfeeding, specifically, an increased expression of selected transcripts in newly infected cat fleas and flea feces was detected when compared to arthropod cell culture and incubation in vertebrate blood. Together, these studies have identified novel, host-dependent rickettsial factors that likely contribute to successful horizontal transmission by bloodfeeding arthropods.
AB - Crucial factors influencing the epidemiology of Rickettsia felis rickettsiosis include pathogenesis and transmission. Detection of R. felis DNA in a number of arthropod species has been reported, with characterized isolates, R. felis strain LSU and strain LSU-Lb, generated from the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, and the non-hematophagous booklouse, Liposcelis bostrychophila, respectively. While it is realized that strain influence on host biology varies, the rickettsial response to these distinct host environments remained undefined. To identify a panel of potential rickettsial transmission determinants in the cat flea, the transcriptional profile for these two strains of R. felis were compared in their arthropod hosts using RNA-seq. Rickettsial genes with increased transcription in the flea as compared to the booklouse were identified. Genes previously associated with bacterial virulence including LPS biosynthesis, Type IV secretion system, ABC transporters, and a toxin-antitoxin system were selected for further study. Transcription of putative virulence-associated genes was determined in a flea infection bioassay for both strains of R. felis. A host-dependent transcriptional profile during bloodfeeding, specifically, an increased expression of selected transcripts in newly infected cat fleas and flea feces was detected when compared to arthropod cell culture and incubation in vertebrate blood. Together, these studies have identified novel, host-dependent rickettsial factors that likely contribute to successful horizontal transmission by bloodfeeding arthropods.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84992135292&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84992135292&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0163769
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0163769
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84992135292
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 11
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 9
M1 - e0163769
ER -