Project description:Tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) are major vectors of African trypanosomes, causing either Human or Animal African Trypanosomiasis (HAT or AAT). Several approaches are developed to control the disease among which the anti-vector Sterile Insect Technique. Another approach in the frame of anti-vector strategies could consist in controlling the fly’s vector competence which needs identifying factors (genes, proteins, biological pathways, …) involved in this process. The present work aims to verify whether protein candidates identified under experimental controlled conditions on insectary-reared tsetse flies have their counterpart in field-collected flies. Glossina palpalis palpalis flies naturally infected with Trypanosoma congolense were sampled in two HAT/AAT foci in Southern Cameroon. After dissection, the proteome from guts of parasite-infected flies were compared to that from uninfected flies in order to identify quantitative and/or qualitative changes associated to infection. A total of 3291 proteins were identified of which 1818 could be quantified. The comparative analysis allowed identifying 175 proteins with significant decreased abundance in infected as compared to uninfected flies, while 61 proteins displayed increased abundance. Among the former are RNA binding proteins, kinases, actin, ribosomal proteins, endocytosis proteins, oxido-reductases, as well as proteins that are unusually found such as tsetse salivary proteins (Tsal) or Yolk proteins. Among the proteins with increased abundance are fructose-1,6-biphosphatase, serine proteases, membrane trafficking proteins, death proteins (or apoptosis proteins), and SERPINs (inhibitor of serine proteases, enzymes considered as trypanosome virulence factors) that displayed highest increased abundance. Sodalis, Wiggleswothia and Wolbachia proteins are strongly under-represented, particularly when compared to data from similar experimentation conducted under controlled conditions on T. brucei gambiense infected (or uninfected) G. palpalis gambiensis insectary reared flies. Comparing the overall recorded data, 364 proteins identified in gut extracts from field flies were shown to have a homologue in insectary flies. Discrepancies between the two studies may arise from differences in the species of studied flies and trypanosomes as well as in differences in environmental conditions in which the two experiments were carried out. Finally, the present study together with former proteomic and transcriptomic studies on the secretome of trypanosomes, on the gut extracts from insectary reared and on field collected tsetse flies, provide a pool of data and information on which to draw in order to perform further investigations on, for example, mammal host immunization or on fly vector competence modification via para-transgenic approaches.
Project description:Transmission of Trypanosoma brucei by tsetse flies involves the deposition of the infective quiescent metacyclic stage into the mammalian skin at the site of the fly’s bite. In the skin, the metacyclic parasites reactivate and differentiate into proliferative trypanosomes before colonizing the host's blood and tissues. We have generated an advanced human skin equivalent and used tsetse flies to naturally infect the artificial skin with trypanosomes. We have detailed the chronological order of the parasites' development in the skin and found a rapid activation and differentiation of the tsetse-transmitted cell cycle‑arrested metacyclic trypanosomes to proliferative parasites. Single-parasite transcriptomics documented the biological events during differentiation and host invasion at five different time points. After the establishment of a proliferative trypanosome population in the skin, the parasites entered a reversible quiescence program characterized by slow replication and a strongly reduced metabolism. We termed these quiescent trypanosomes skin tissue forms (STF), which may play an important role in maintaining the trypanosome infection in aparasitemic, asymptomatic individuals.
2021-05-30 | GSE174198 | GEO
Project description:Analysis of bacterial microbiome in wild tsetse flies
| PRJNA556771 | ENA
Project description:Transcriptome of tsetse fly bacteriomes within Kenyan flies
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as potential mediators of cross-species gene regulation in vector-borne diseases. In this study, we investigate miRNA presence in the tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans)-trypanosome system, focusing on salivary glands and saliva during Trypanosoma brucei infections. Using small RNA sequencing and a consensus approach combining two bioinformatics tools, miRDeep2 and sRNAtoolbox, we identified 54 unique miRNAs in tsetse saliva and salivary glands, with none originating from T. brucei. To ensure the accuracy of miRNA annotations, a robust pipeline was implemented, including de novo prediction, comparative analyses across tools, and manual curation to minimize false positives. Among the identified miRNAs, 12 were novel to tsetse flies, and 5 represented putative novel miRNAs. Salivary gland samples contained the majority of detected miRNAs, with a subset also present in saliva, with some of those saliva miRNAs exhibiting notably high relative abundance. This study demonstrates the power of integrated bioinformatics pipelines to investigate miRNAs in non-model organisms and unconventional matrices like insect saliva. Our findings contribute to the growing understanding of miRNA roles in host-vector-pathogen interactions and lay the groundwork for future functional validation studies to elucidate their biological significance.
2025-06-24 | GSE288319 | GEO
Project description:Metatranscriptome of teneral tsetse flies of varying vector competence
| PRJNA668823 | ENA
Project description:Bacterial communities associated with natural populations of tsetse flies
| PRJNA345319 | ENA
Project description:Analysis of Male Reproductive Gene Expression in Aposymbiotic Tsetse Flies
| PRJNA394896 | ENA
Project description:Blood meal analysis of tsetse flies by Next-generation sequencing