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Detection and Identification of Species-Specific Bacteria Associated with Synanthropic Mites

  • Invertebrate Microbiology
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Abstract

Internal bacterial communities of synanthropic mites Acarus siro, Dermatophagoides farinae, Lepidoglyphus destructor, and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acari: Astigmata) were analyzed by culturing and culture-independent approaches from specimens obtained from laboratory colonies. Homogenates of surface-sterilized mites were used for cultivation on non-selective agar and DNA extraction. Isolated bacteria were identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. PCR amplified 16S rRNA genes were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (T-RFLP) and cloning sequencing. Fluorescence in situ hybridization using universal bacterial probes was used for direct bacterial localization. T-RFLP analysis of 16S rRNA gene revealed distinct species-specific bacterial communities. The results were further confirmed by cloning and sequencing (284 clones). L. destructor and D. farinae showed more diverse communities then A. siro and T. putrescentiae. In the cultivated part of the community, the mean CFUs from four mite species ranged from 5.2 × 102 to 1.4 × 103 per mite. D. farinae had significantly higher CFUs than the other species. Bacteria were located in the digestive and reproductive tract, parenchymatical tissue, and in bacteriocytes. Among the clones, Bartonella-like bacteria occurring in A. siro and T. putresecentiae represented a distinct group related to Bartonellaceae and to Bartonella-like symbionts of ants. The clones of high similarity to Xenorhabdus cabanillasii were found in L. destructor and D. farinae, and one clone related to Photorhabdus temperata in A. siro. Members of Sphingobacteriales cloned from D. farinae and A. siro clustered with the sequences of “Candidatus Cardinium hertigii” and as a separate novel cluster.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (grant no. GA525/09/1872); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (grant no. ME09013); and by the OECD (project AGR/PROG-JA00038773). M.A.P. is supported by the Royal Society, UK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crop Research Institute, Drnovská 507, Praha 6-Ruzyně, 161 06, Czech Republic

    Jan Hubert, Jan Kopecký, Marta Nesvorná & Markéta Ságová-Marečková

  2. Medical Center Prague, Mezi Vodami 205, Praha 4, 143 00, Czech Republic

    Jan Hubert

  3. School of Biological Sciences, Environmental Biology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AS, UK

    M. Alejandra Perotti

  4. School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2UW, Wales, UK

    Henk R. Braig

  5. The Forsyth Institute, Boston, MA, 02142, USA

    Lilia Macovei

  6. Department of Entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Ludek Zurek

  7. Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Ludek Zurek

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  1. Jan Hubert
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  2. Jan Kopecký
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Electronic Supplementary Material

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Supplementary Table S1

The identification and the numbers of obtained bacterial clones and isolates from the tested species of mites: Acarus siro (As), Dermatophagoides farinae (Df), Lepidoglyphus destructor (Ld), and Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Tp); diets: HDMd—house-dust mite diet, SPMd—stored-product mite diet. The sequences obtained from isolates are indicated as isol. The classification reliability is given by confidence threshold (ct) value (RDP Classifier, Wang et al. 2007). (PDF 23 kb)

Supplementary Figure S1

Phylogenetic analysis of Enterobacteriales clones related to the genera Xenorhabdus and Providencia with their closest neighbors available in public databases. Phylogeny was inferred by Bayesian analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences of 23 clones from L. destructor (Ld), D. farinae (Df), and 18 type-strain sequences of the related species. Branch lengths correspond to mean posterior estimates of evolutionary distances (scale bar, 0.05). For selected branches, the branch labels indicate the Bayesian posterior probability and supporting bootstrap values from maximum-likelihood and neighbor-joining analyses. The phylograms were outgrouped using the E. coli sequence U00096. (PDF 21 kb)

Supplementary Figure S2

Phylogenetic analysis of clones and isolates belonging to Bacillales together with their closest neighbors available in public databases. Phylogeny was inferred by Bayesian analysis of 135 16S rRNA gene sequences of 115 clones from L. destructor (Ld), D. farinae (Df), A. siro (As), and T. putrescentiae (Tp), 20 cultured isolates (marked as isol.) from mite whole body homogenates or mite diets HDMd and SPMd, and 16 selected type-strain sequences from the genera Bacillus and Staphylococcus. Branch lengths correspond to mean posterior estimates of evolutionary distances (scale bar, 0.5). Branch labels indicate the Bayesian posterior probability and for selected branches also supporting bootstrap values from maximum-likelihood and neighbor-joining analyses. The phylograms were outgrouped using the E. coli sequence U00096. (PDF 27 kb)

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Hubert, J., Kopecký, J., Perotti, M.A. et al. Detection and Identification of Species-Specific Bacteria Associated with Synanthropic Mites. Microb Ecol 63, 919–928 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9969-6

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