CAS Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Nat Microbiol. 2021 Jun;6(6):806-817. doi: 10.1038/s41564-021-00899-8. Epub 2021 May 6.
The stalling global progress in the fight against malaria prompts the urgent need to develop new intervention strategies. Whilst engineered symbiotic bacteria have been shown to confer mosquito resistance to parasite infection, a major challenge for field implementation is to address regulatory concerns. Here, we report the identification of a Plasmodium-blocking symbiotic bacterium, Serratia ureilytica Su_YN1, isolated from the midgut of wild Anopheles sinensis in China that inhibits malaria parasites via secretion of an antimalarial lipase. Analysis of Plasmodium vivax epidemic data indicates that local malaria cases in Tengchong (Yunnan province, China) are significantly lower than imported cases and importantly, that the local vector A. sinensis is more resistant to infection by P. vivax than A. sinensis from other regions. Analysis of the gut symbiotic bacteria of mosquitoes from Yunnan province led to the identification of S. ureilytica Su_YN1. This bacterium renders mosquitoes resistant to infection by the human parasite Plasmodium falciparum or the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei via secretion of a lipase that selectively kills parasites at various stages. Importantly, Su_YN1 rapidly disseminates through mosquito populations by vertical and horizontal transmission, providing a potential tool for blocking malaria transmission in the field.
全球抗击疟疾的进展陷入停滞，促使我们迫切需要开发新的干预策略。虽然工程共生细菌已被证明可使蚊子对寄生虫感染具有抗性，但现场实施的一个主要挑战是解决监管方面的担忧。在这里，我们报告了一种从中国野生中华按蚊中分离出的疟原虫阻断共生细菌——粘质沙雷氏菌 Su_YN1，它通过分泌一种抗疟脂酶来抑制疟原虫。对间日疟流行数据的分析表明，中国腾冲（云南省）的当地疟疾病例明显低于输入性病例，重要的是，当地的传播媒介中华按蚊比来自其他地区的中华按蚊对间日疟原虫的感染更具抗性。对云南省蚊子肠道共生细菌的分析导致了粘质沙雷氏菌 Su_YN1 的鉴定。这种细菌通过分泌一种脂酶，选择性地杀死各种阶段的寄生虫，使蚊子对人类寄生虫疟原虫或啮齿动物寄生虫疟原虫感染具有抗性。重要的是，Su_YN1 通过垂直和水平传播在蚊子种群中迅速传播，为阻断现场疟疾传播提供了一种潜在工具。
