Amjad Khalaf follows the symbiosis genomics session at #biodiversity25 presenting about #microsporidia tetraploid genomes. Most of them are recent autotetraploids. An interesting model of reproduction is proposed with two different paths: sexual and asexual reproduction.

Top: Prevalence of Microsporidia in DToL insect genomes. Microsporidian genomes recovered from insect hosts, split by taxonomic order. F: female, M: male, U: unspecified sex. Bottom: Simplified proposed generalized lifecycle for Microsporidia. This proposed model posits that each nucleus is a diploid, and that microsporidian reproduction mirrors reproduction in Fungi with stages similar to karyogamy, plasmogamy, and a stable “heterokaryon” (known as a diplokaryon in Microsporidia). Importantly, both the diplokaryotic and monokaryotic phases are parasitic, and species may spend most of their lifecycle in one or the other phase, giving rise to “diploid” and “tetraploid” lineages.

#Microsporidia are #parasites of growing importance. @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social @mblaxter.bsky.social @marakat.bsky.social &co present 40 new genomes from #DarwinTreeofLife sequencing of their arthropod hosts, revealing insights into #tetraploidy & #reproduction @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/48HsAQJ

Top: Prevalence of Microsporidia in DToL insect genomes. Microsporidian genomes recovered from insect hosts, split by taxonomic order. F: female, M: male, U: unspecified sex. Bottom: Simplified proposed generalized lifecycle for Microsporidia. This proposed model posits that each nucleus is a diploid, and that microsporidian reproduction mirrors reproduction in Fungi with stages similar to karyogamy, plasmogamy, and a stable “heterokaryon” (known as a diplokaryon in Microsporidia). Importantly, both the diplokaryotic and monokaryotic phases are parasitic, and species may spend most of their lifecycle in one or the other phase, giving rise to “diploid” and “tetraploid” lineages.

#Microsporidia are #parasites of growing importance. @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social @mblaxter.bsky.social @marakat.bsky.social &co present 40 new genomes from #DarwinTreeofLife sequencing of their arthropod hosts, revealing insights into #tetraploidy & #reproduction @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/48HsAQJ

Top: Prevalence of Microsporidia in DToL insect genomes. Microsporidian genomes recovered from insect hosts, split by taxonomic order. F: female, M: male, U: unspecified sex. Bottom: Simplified proposed generalized lifecycle for Microsporidia. This proposed model posits that each nucleus is a diploid, and that microsporidian reproduction mirrors reproduction in Fungi with stages similar to karyogamy, plasmogamy, and a stable “heterokaryon” (known as a diplokaryon in Microsporidia). Importantly, both the diplokaryotic and monokaryotic phases are parasitic, and species may spend most of their lifecycle in one or the other phase, giving rise to “diploid” and “tetraploid” lineages.

#Microsporidia are #parasites of growing importance. ‪@amjadkhalaf.bsky.social‬ ‪@mblaxter.bsky.social @marakat.bsky.social &co present 40 new genomes from #DarwinTreeofLife sequencing of their arthropod hosts, revealing insights into #tetraploidy & #reproduction @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/48HsAQJ

Virulence Evolution: Thinking Outside of the Host The main theory of the evolution of virulence relies on a trade-off between virulence and transmission rate. However, it has been difficult to measure the required trade-off. A recent transmission de...

OUT in @evolappjournal.bsky.social ! 🧑‍🔬💧🦠

Using our #transmission framework on #microsporidia parasite lines we found that performance outside the host trades off with increased virulence in #Anopheles
#MicroSky #SymbioSky

We show the importance of parasite ecology to virulence evolution.

When parasites wait to transmit, they become deadlier — and not only the time within the host matter Parasites don’t just vary in how harmful they are — they evolve that harm. In our new study, published in PLOS Pathogens, we explored how the timing of transmission and parasite performance outside th...

When parasites wait to transmit, they become deadlier — and not only the time within the host matter on Kudos: www.growkudos.com/publications...

A brief sci-comm explanation of our recent paper in @plos.org Pathogens #Anopheles #Microsporidia #virulence #MicroSky #EvoSky

Mechanisms of host exploitation by a microsporidian parasite | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Parasites exploit their hosts to enhance their growth and reproduction, yet the mechanisms underlying host manipulation remain understudied for many taxa. The microsporidian Vavraia culicis, a potential biological control agent for mosquitoes, serves as ...

Our NEW paper is OUT in PROCEEDINGS B! 🦟
We show how a #microsporidia exploits its #Anopheles host throughout #infection using a bunch of different methods.
#MicroSky #EvoSky #SymbioSky
See below👇

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

3/3
We also flag issues with composite virulence (👀 more on that soon!). Finally, we explore implications for #Microsporidia and their interactions with #Plasmodium in #malaria coinfections 🤔🦠🧫

This is a hematoxylin and eosin stained section of kidney from a bearded dragon. Encephalitozoan pogonae, a microsporidian, expands they cytoplasm of many cells. Nuclei of cells are dark purple and the parenchyma is mostly pink (eosinophilic). The microsporidians are elongate. They have a polar tube and posterior vacuole that create some differential staining of the organism.

This is an acid-fast stained section of kidney from a bearded dragon. Encephalitozoan pogonae, a microsporidian, expands they cytoplasm of many cells and these organisms are stained a bright fuchsia color. The counterstain turns the background tissue light blue.

This is a gram stained section of kidney from a bearded dragon. Encephalitozoan pogonae, a microsporidian, expands they cytoplasm of many cells. Nuclei of cells are verydark purple. The cells and fibrous connective tissue in the backgrounds are pink . The microsporidians are elongate. Although many are aggregated in host cells, some are scattered in the tissue.

Check out the massive numbers of #microsporidia in these sections! How many times have you had to search for #Encephalitozoon cuniculi? This is E. pogonae in #kidney of a bearded dragon. The lizards know how to grow Encephalitozoon.

#PathSky #VetPath #Veterinary #Parasitology #Histopathology

Looking suitably festive @lsiexeter.bsky.social!
( #microsporidia polar tube firing on the wall, in case anybody's wondering)

The last part of our transmission lines saga is out now! 🦟 🦠

Here we show several #Anopheles host effectors that are parasite-specific and/or virulence-dependent to a #microsporidia via metallomics, diet manip and resource dynamics.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#EvoSky #SymbioSky #MicroSky

6/6 #Microsporidia are known to suppress Plasmodium development inside its vector, although the mechanism remains a mystery. This data suggests the suppression might not be due to collateral immunity from the microsporidia but resource competition 🤔

Selection on time to parasite transmission shapes the host Anopheles gambiae transcriptional response and suggests immune evasion bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

My latest (and first solo) preprint is now out! 🥳
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
If you are into #Anopheles immune response, parasite #transmission or #microsporidia, this one is for you :) Check the thread below.