Experimental evolution of resistance against Bacillus thuringiensis in the insect model host Galleria mellonella results in epigenetic modifications

Virulence
Krishnendu MukherjeeAndreas Vilcinskas

Abstract

Epigenetic mechanisms have been proposed to translate environmental stimuli into heritable transgenerational phenotypic variations that can significantly influence natural selection. An intriguing example is exposure to pathogens, which imposes selection for host resistance. To test this hypothesis, we used larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella as model host to experimentally select for resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), the most widely used bacterial agent for the biological control of pest insects. To determine whether epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the evolution of resistance against pathogens, we exposed G. mellonella larvae over 30 generations to spores and crystals mix of Bt and compared epigenetic markers in this selected line, exhibiting almost 11-fold enhanced resistance against Bt, to those in a non-selected control population. We found that experimental selection influenced acetylation of specific histones and DNA methylation as well as transcription of genes encoding the enzymatic writers and erasers of these epigenetic mechanisms. Using microarray analysis, we also observed differences in the expression of conserved miRNAs in the resistant and susceptible larvae, resulting in the repressio...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Apr 18, 2018·Immunological Reviews·Benjamin GourbalMihai G Netea
Sep 3, 2019·Frontiers in Immunology·Guillaume TetreauYannick Moret
Jan 22, 2020·Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology·Krishnendu MukherjeeAndreas Vilcinskas
Mar 28, 2019·Frontiers in Physiology·Aurélien VigneronYannick Moret
Jun 10, 2020·Neotropical Entomology·C Villagra, D Frías-Lasserre
Apr 7, 2020·Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology·Rik LieversAstrid T Groot
May 30, 2021·Developmental and Comparative Immunology·Alejandra Zárate-PotesHinrich Schulenburg
Jun 19, 2021·Frontiers in Microbiology·Lu LiuJin He
Jul 15, 2021·Developmental and Comparative Immunology·Andreas Vilcinskas
Jul 9, 2021·International Journal of Biological Macromolecules·Saima KausarHongjuan Cui

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
chemical modification
acetylation
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
histone acetylation
bacterial collection

Software Mentioned

BioEdit
Cytoscape
RNA hybrid
RNAhybrid Bioinformatics Server

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