Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co-founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of Education, School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, 241002, China.
Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotic Environment and Ecological Safety in Anhui, Wuhu, Anhui, 241002, China.
Environ Microbiol. 2022 Mar;24(3):1454-1466. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.15881. Epub 2021 Dec 29.
Anuran amphibians are susceptible to infection by intestinal nematodes, but the damage and response mechanisms that occur in their intestines after infection are only partially understood. In this study, the intestinal disruption and response mechanisms in Amolops wuyiensis frogs infected with Cosmocercoides wuyiensis n. sp. were revealed through analysis of the intestinal histopathology, digestive enzyme activity, transcriptome and intestinal microbiota. Tissue section analysis showed histological damage and inflammation in the infected intestine, and the digestive enzyme activity indicated a decrease in digestion and absorption of some nutrients. We found that infection led to differences in the intestinal microbiota composition, including lower diversity and symbiotic relationships. The greater relative abundance of the genera Burkholderia and Rhodococcus may enhance intestinal immunity to resist pathogenic infections. A comparison of the transcriptomes of infected and uninfected intestines revealed 1055 differentially expressed genes. GO enrichment and KEGG pathways analyses suggested that the guts of infected C. wuyiensis n. sp. show enhanced complement activation, cell adhesion molecule function, NOD-like receptor signalling pathway activity and other innate immunity responses. Among the adaptive immune responses, the intestinal immune network for IgA production was significantly enriched, and the expression of IL-17D and transforming growth factor beta-1 genes were upregulated in the infected intestine. These results imply that C. wuyiensis n. sp. infection of A. wuyiensis intestine may trigger innate and adaptive immune responses, which reduce the post-infection burden. Furthermore, the intestine of A. wuyiensis may also respond to C. wuyiensis n. sp. infection by increasing metallocarboxypeptidase activity and accelerating smooth muscle contraction.
两栖类蛙类易感染肠道线虫，但感染后肠道中发生的损伤和反应机制仅部分了解。本研究通过分析感染后肠道的组织病理学、消化酶活性、转录组和肠道微生物群，揭示了感染武夷山球丽线虫的武夷湍蛙的肠道破坏和反应机制。组织切片分析显示感染肠组织的结构损伤和炎症，消化酶活性表明一些营养物质的消化和吸收减少。我们发现感染导致肠道微生物群落组成的差异，包括多样性降低和共生关系改变。伯克霍尔德菌属和红球菌属的相对丰度增加可能增强了肠道对致病感染的免疫。比较感染和未感染肠道的转录组发现了 1055 个差异表达基因。GO 富集和 KEGG 通路分析表明，感染武夷山球丽线虫的武夷湍蛙肠道表现出增强的补体激活、细胞黏附分子功能、NOD 样受体信号通路活性和其他先天免疫反应。在适应性免疫反应中，肠道 IgA 产生的免疫网络显著富集，感染肠中白细胞介素 17D 和转化生长因子β-1 基因的表达上调。这些结果表明，武夷山球丽线虫感染武夷湍蛙肠道可能引发先天和适应性免疫反应，减轻感染后的负担。此外，武夷湍蛙的肠道可能还通过增加金属羧肽酶活性和加速平滑肌收缩来应对武夷山球丽线虫感染。
