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Page 93
allied
academies
Ann Biol Sci, 2017
ISSN: 2348-1927
August 23-24, 2017 | Toronto, Canada
Annual Conference on
MICROBIAL PATHOGENESIS, INFECTIOUS DISEASE,
ANTIMICROBIALS AND DRUG RESISTANCE
B
. burgdorferi colonization and transmission involve interactions
between thetick gut and the spirocheteandareorchestrated
spatially and temporally by molecular changes in the spirochete
and the tick gut. While several studies have defined
global changes in
B. burgdorferi
genes during spirochete
colonization of the tick and transmission to the host, little
is known of
I. scapularis
gut genes. The realization that the
tick gut is also co-habited by diverse indigenous microbiota
brings a new correlate to tick-spirochete interactions in the
context of colonization and transmission. We show that
PIXR, a secreted tick gut protein, inhibits bacterial biofilm
formation and maintains tick gut bacterial homeostasis. The
tick gut bacterial composition shapes the metabolite milieu
of the gut, as seen by changes in the gut metabolome upon
PIXR abrogation. The gut metabolome may influence the
spirochete entering the tick gut by providing: (i) molecular
cues that present the spatial context critical for
B. burgdorferi
to prepare for colonization and (ii) a nutrient milieu essential
for spirochete survival. This study underscores the functional
significance of the three-way interactions between the
tick, its microbiome and the spirochete and offers a new
insight into how the tick vector modulates
B. burgdorferi
colonization.
e
:
sukanya.narasimhan@yale.eduThe tick gut microbiome - critical gatekeepeers
Sukanya Narasimhan
Yale School of Medicine, USA
Arch Clin Microbiol, 8:5
DOI: 10.4172/1989-8436-C1-003