Ioannis Eleftherianos

Rapid Virulence Annotation (RVA): Identification of virulence factors using a bacterial genome library and multiple invertebrate hosts

Current sequence databases now contain numerous whole genome sequences of pathogenic bacteria. However, many of the predicted genes lack any functional annotation. We describe an assumption-free approach, Rapid Virulence Annotation (RVA), for the high-throughput parallel screening of genomic libraries against four different taxa: insects, nematodes, amoeba, and mammalian macrophages. These hosts represent different aspects of both the vertebrate and invertebrate immune system. Here, we apply RVA to the emerging human pathogen Photorhabdus asymbiotica using “gain of toxicity” assays of recombinant Escherichia coli clones. We describe a wealth of potential virulence loci and attribute biological function to several putative genomic islands, which may then be further characterized using conventional molecular techniques. The application of RVA to other pathogen genomes promises to ascribe biological function to otherwise uncharacterized virulence genes.

The immunoglobulin family protein Hemolin mediates cellular immune responses to bacteria in the insect Manduca sexta

Bacterial recognition in the lepidopteran insect, Manduca sexta, is mediated by pattern recognition proteins including Hemolin, Peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP) and Immulectin‐2. These proteins bind to molecular patterns present on the surface of bacteria and trigger a protective response involving humoral and cellular reactions. Cellular mechanisms mediated by haemocytes include phagocytosis, encapsulation, and the formation of melanotic nodules. Here, we show that a non‐pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli induces mRNA transcription and protein expression of Hemolin and PGRP but not Immulectin‐2 in Manduca haemocytes. This upregulation can be effectively prevented (knocked‐down) using RNA interference (RNAi) following injection of double‐stranded (ds) RNA. Knock‐down of Hemolin significantly decreased the ability of insects to clear E. coli from the haemolymph and caused a reduction in the number of free haemocytes. RNAi of Hemolin reduced the ability of haemocytes to engulf bacteria through phagocytosis and to form melanotic nodules in vivo. Importantly, washed haemocytes taken from RNAi‐treated insects showed reduced ability to form microaggregates around bacteria in vitro. This shows that the immune function affected by RNAi knock‐down of Hemolin is intrinsic to the haemocytes. In contrast, RNAi of PGRP had no effect on any of these cellular immune functions. These results demonstrate the vital role of Hemolin in Manduca cellular immune responses.

The Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis toxin complex is active against cultured mammalian cells

The toxin complex (Tc) genes were first identified in the insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens and encode approximately 1 MDa protein complexes which are toxic to insect pests. Subsequent genome sequencing projects have revealed the presence of tc orthologues in a range of bacterial pathogens known to be associated with insects. Interestingly, members of the mammalian-pathogenic yersiniae have also been shown to encode Tc orthologues. Studies in Yersinia enterocolitica have shown that divergent tc loci either encode insect-active toxins or play a role in colonization of the gut in gastroenteritis models of rats. So far little is known about the activity of the Tc proteins in the other mammalian-pathogenic yersiniae. Here we present work to suggest that Tc proteins in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis are not insecticidal toxins but have evolved for mammalian pathogenicity. We show that Tc is secreted by Y. pseudotuberculosis strain IP32953 during growth in media at 28 degrees C and 37 degrees C. We also demonstrate that oral toxicity of strain IP32953 to Manduca sexta larvae is not due to Tc expression and that lysates of Escherichia coli BL21 expressing the Yersinia Tc proteins are not toxic to Sf9 insect cells but are toxic to cultured mammalian cell lines. Cell lysates of E. coli BL21 expressing the Y. pseudotuberculosis Tc proteins caused actin ruffles, vacuoles and multi-nucleation in cultured human gut cells (Caco-2); similar morphology was observed after application of a lysate of E. coli BL21 expressing the Y. pestis Tc proteins to mouse fibroblast NIH3T3 cells, but not Caco-2 cells. Finally, transient expression of the individual Tc proteins in Caco-2 and NIH3T3 cell lines reproduced the actin and nuclear rearrangement observed with the topical applications. Together these results add weight to the growing hypothesis that the Tc proteins in Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis have been adapted for mammalian pathogenicity. We further conclude that Tc proteins from Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis display differential mammalian cell specificity in their toxicity.

Plasmatocyte-spreading peptide (PSP) plays a central role in insect cellular immune defenses against bacterial infection

SUMMARY Insect hemocytes (blood cells) are a central part of the insects cellular response to bacterial pathogens, and these specialist cells can both recognize and engulf bacteria. During this process, hemocytes undergo poorly characterized changes in adhesiveness. Previously, a peptide termed plasmatocyte-spreading peptide (PSP), which induces the adhesion and spreading of plasmatocytes on foreign surfaces, has been identified in lepidopteran insects. Here, we investigate the function of this peptide in the moth Manduca sexta using RNA interference (RNAi) to prevent expression of the precursor protein proPSP. We show that infection with the insect-specific bacterial pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens and non-pathogenic Escherichia coli induces proPSP mRNA transcription in the insect fat body but not in hemocytes; subsequently, proPSP protein can be detected in cell-free hemolymph. We used RNAi to silence this upregulation of proPSP and found that the knock-down insects succumbed faster to infection with P. luminescens, but not E. coli. RNAi-treated insects infected with E. coli showed a reduction in the number of circulating hemocytes and higher bacterial growth in hemolymph as well as a reduction in overall cellular immune function compared with infected controls. Interestingly, RNAi-mediated depletion of proPSP adversely affected the formation of melanotic nodules but had no additional effect on other cellular responses when insects were infected with P. luminescens, indicating that this pathogen employs mechanisms that suppress key cellular immune functions in M. sexta. Our results provide evidence for the central role of PSP in M. sexta cellular defenses against bacterial infections.

Probing the tri-trophic interaction between insects, nematodes and Photorhabdus.

SUMMARY Photorhabdus sp. are entomopathogenic bacteria which, upon experimental infection, interact with the insect immune system, but little is known about the roles of their symbiotic nematode partners Heterorhabditis sp. in natural infections. Here, we investigated the respective contributions of nematodes and bacteria by examining humoral and cellular immune reactions of the model lepidopteran insect Manduca sexta against Heterorhabditis carrying Photorhabdus, nematodes free of bacteria (axenic nematodes) and bacteria alone. Insect mortality was slower following infection with axenic nematodes than when insects were infected with nematodes containing Photorhabdus, or the bacteria alone. Nematodes elicited host immune responses to a lesser extent than bacteria. Transcription of certain recognition and antibacterial genes was lower when insects were naturally infected with nematodes carrying no bacteria compared to insects that received bacteria, either with or without nematodes. Axenic nematodes also did not elicit such high levels of phenoloxidase activity and haemocyte aggregates as did treatments involving Photorhabdus. By contrast, the phagocytic capability of host haemocytes was decreased by both axenic and bacteria-associated nematodes, but not by Photorhabdus alone. These results imply that both bacteria and nematodes contribute separately to the pathogenic modulation of host immune responses during natural infections by the mutualistic Heterorhabdus-Photorhabdus complex.

A Serine Proteinase Homologue, SPH-3, Plays a Central Role in Insect Immunity

Numerous vertebrate and invertebrate genes encode serine proteinase homologues (SPHs) similar to members of the serine proteinase family, but lacking one or more residues of the catalytic triad. These SPH proteins are thought to play a role in immunity, but their precise functions are poorly understood. In this study, we show that SPH-3 (an insect non-clip domain–containing SPH) is of central importance in the immune response of a model lepidopteran, Manduca sexta. We examine M. sexta infection with a virulent, insect-specific, Gram-negative bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens. RNA interference suppression of bacteria-induced SPH-3 synthesis severely compromises the insect’s ability to defend itself against infection by preventing the transcription of multiple antimicrobial effector genes, but, surprisingly, not the transcription of immune recognition genes. Upregulation of the gene encoding prophenoloxidase and the activity of the phenoloxidase enzyme are among the antimicrobial responses that are severely attenuated on SPH-3 knockdown. These findings suggest the existence of two largely independent signaling pathways controlling immune recognition by the fat body, one governing effector gene transcription, and the other regulating genes encoding pattern recognition proteins.

Induced nitric oxide synthesis in the gut of Manduca sexta protects against oral infection by the bacterial pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens

Injecting the insect pathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens into the blood system of the model lepidopteran insect Manduca sexta induces nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in the fat body and blood cells (haemocytes), whereas following oral ingestion of bacteria NOS expression is limited to the gut. We used RNA interference to knock‐down expression of NOS throughout the insect. Preventing NOS induction in this way adversely affected the survival of orally infected insects and caused a significant increase in the number of bacteria crossing into the haemolymph. By contrast, knock‐down of NOS had no effect on the mortality rate of insects infected with P. luminescens by injection. Pharmacological inhibition of NOS decreased both nitric oxide (NO) levels in the gut wall and survival of orally infected insects, whereas elevation of gut wall NO using an NO donor increased survival of NOS silenced caterpillars. Together, our results imply that induced synthesis of NO is important in mediating insect immune defence against the pathogen by inhibiting transfer of bacteria across the gut wall.

A single locus from the entomopathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens inhibits activated Manduca sexta phenoloxidase

Insect blood (hemolymph) contains prophenoloxidase, a proenzyme that is activated to protective phenoloxidase when the insect is damaged or challenged with microorganisms. The Gram-negative bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens kills the lepidopteron insect Manduca sexta by using a variety of toxins. We screened P. luminescens and Photorhabdus asymbiotica cosmid libraries in an Escherichia coli host against previously activated M. sexta hemolymph phenoloxidase and identified three overlapping cosmid clones from P. luminescens and five from P. asymbiotica that suppressed the activity of the enzyme both in vitro and in vivo. Genome alignments of cosmid end sequences from both species confirmed that they contained orthologous loci. We examined one of the cosmids from P. luminescens in detail: it induced the formation of significantly fewer melanotic nodules, proliferated faster within the insect host and was significantly more virulent towards fifth-stage larvae than E. coli control bacteria. Insertional mutagenesis of this cosmid yielded 11 transposon mutants that were no longer inhibitory. All of these were insertions into a single 5.5-kb locus, which contained three ORFs and was homologous to the maltodextrin phosphorylase locus of E. coli. The implications of this novel inhibitory factor of insect phenoloxidase for Photorhabdus virulence are discussed.

RNAI AND THE INSECT IMMUNE SYSTEM

RNA interference (RNAi) is an endogenous, specific gene silencing mechanism that uses double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to suppress the expression of targeted genes. In insects, silencing occurs principally through mRNA degradation, but inhibition of translation may also play an important role. The RNAi machinery of the cell is itself used to protect genome integrity and as an antiviral defense, and some insect viruses have evolved genes that suppress host RNAi. The technology of RNAi can be used experimentally both for gene discovery and also to elucidate gene function. Specific dsRNAs can be used to selectively silence known immune-related genes, even where traditional genetic approaches are unable to achieve this. This can be done through molecular genetics, by transforming the target insect with a hairpin construct that generates dsRNA when transcribed, or pharmacologically, by administering exogenous dsRNA specific to the targeted gene (systemic RNAi). These techniques are well suited to testing hypotheses about the functions of particular immune-related genes, especially interactions between pathogens or parasites and their insect hosts. Silencing can be precisely timed and targeted both in vivo and in vitro. In the case of insect viruses, RNAi can be used not only to suppress expression of host genes, but also of viral genes. Molecular genetics allows construction of DNA hairpin libraries; these are well suited to screening for genes with novel immune-related phenotypes both in vivo and in vitro . RNAi is not always effective, and possible reasons for this are discussed. Finally, RNAi treatments may in some cases induce off-target effects, and possible explanations for this are considered. It is well known in vertebrates that dsRNA can itself induce immune responses. This possibility deserves further exploration in insects.