Bacterial Adaptation to Venom in Snakes and Arachnida

Elham Esmaeilishirazifard; Louise Usher; Carol Trim; Vartul Sangal; Gregory F. Tyson; Axel Barlow; Keith F. Redway; John D. Taylor; Myrto Kremida-Vlachou; Sam Davies; Teresa D.  Loftus; Mikaella M.G. Lock; Kstir Wright; Andrew Dalby; Lori A.S. Snyder; Wolfgang Wüster; Steve Trim; Sterghios A. Moschos

doi:10.1128/spectrum.02408-21

Bacterial Adaptation to Venom in Snakes and Arachnida

Elham Esmaeilishirazifard, Louise Usher, Carol Trim, Vartul Sangal, Gregory F. Tyson, Axel Barlow, Keith F. Redway, John D. Taylor, Myrto Kremida-Vlachou, Sam Davies, Teresa D. Loftus, Mikaella M.G. Lock, Kstir Wright, Andrew Dalby, Lori A.S. Snyder, Wolfgang Wüster, Steve Trim, Sterghios A. Moschos

School of Environmental & Natural Sciences

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Abstract

Animal venoms are considered sterile sources of antimicrobial compounds with strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However, venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating the envenomation organ and venom microbiota of five snake and two spider species, we observed venom community structures that depend on the host venomous animal spe- cies and evidenced recovery of viable microorganisms from black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) and Indian ornamental tarantula (Poecilotheria regalis) venoms. Among the bacterial isolates recovered from N. nigricollis, we identified two venom-resistant, novel sequence types of Enterococcus faecalis whose genomes feature 16 virulence genes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of which improve bacterial membrane integrity. Our findings challenge the dogma of venom ste- rility and indicate an increased primary infection risk in the clinical management of ven- omous animal bite wounds.

Original language	English
Article number	e0240821
Number of pages	16
Journal	Microbiology Spectrum
Volume	10
Issue number	3
Early online date	23 May 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02408-21
Publication status	Published - 29 Jun 2022

Keywords

drug resistance evolution
extremophiles
genome analysis
microbiome
multidrug resistance
venom

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spectrum.02408-21Final published version, 2.81 MBLicence: CC BY

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Esmaeilishirazifard, E., Usher, L., Trim, C., Sangal, V., Tyson, G. F., Barlow, A., Redway, K. F., Taylor, J. D., Kremida-Vlachou, M., Davies, S., Loftus, T. D., Lock, M. M. G., Wright, K., Dalby, A., Snyder, L. A. S., Wüster, W., Trim, S., & Moschos, S. A. (2022). Bacterial Adaptation to Venom in Snakes and Arachnida. Microbiology Spectrum, 10(3), Article e0240821. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02408-21

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title = "Bacterial Adaptation to Venom in Snakes and Arachnida",

abstract = "Animal venoms are considered sterile sources of antimicrobial compounds with strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However, venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating the envenomation organ and venom microbiota of five snake and two spider species, we observed venom community structures that depend on the host venomous animal spe- cies and evidenced recovery of viable microorganisms from black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) and Indian ornamental tarantula (Poecilotheria regalis) venoms. Among the bacterial isolates recovered from N. nigricollis, we identified two venom-resistant, novel sequence types of Enterococcus faecalis whose genomes feature 16 virulence genes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of which improve bacterial membrane integrity. Our findings challenge the dogma of venom ste- rility and indicate an increased primary infection risk in the clinical management of ven- omous animal bite wounds.",

keywords = "drug resistance evolution, extremophiles, genome analysis, microbiome, multidrug resistance, venom",

author = "Elham Esmaeilishirazifard and Louise Usher and Carol Trim and Vartul Sangal and Tyson, \{Gregory F.\} and Axel Barlow and Redway, \{Keith F.\} and Taylor, \{John D.\} and Myrto Kremida-Vlachou and Sam Davies and Loftus, \{Teresa D.\} and Lock, \{Mikaella M.G.\} and Kstir Wright and Andrew Dalby and Snyder, \{Lori A.S.\} and Wolfgang W{\"u}ster and Steve Trim and Moschos, \{Sterghios A.\}",

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Esmaeilishirazifard, E, Usher, L, Trim, C, Sangal, V, Tyson, GF, Barlow, A, Redway, KF, Taylor, JD, Kremida-Vlachou, M, Davies, S, Loftus, TD, Lock, MMG, Wright, K, Dalby, A, Snyder, LAS, Wüster, W, Trim, S & Moschos, SA 2022, 'Bacterial Adaptation to Venom in Snakes and Arachnida', Microbiology Spectrum, vol. 10, no. 3, e0240821. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02408-21

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T1 - Bacterial Adaptation to Venom in Snakes and Arachnida

AU - Esmaeilishirazifard, Elham

AU - Usher, Louise

AU - Trim, Carol

AU - Sangal, Vartul

AU - Tyson, Gregory F.

AU - Barlow, Axel

AU - Redway, Keith F.

AU - Taylor, John D.

AU - Kremida-Vlachou, Myrto

AU - Davies, Sam

AU - Loftus, Teresa D.

AU - Lock, Mikaella M.G.

AU - Wright, Kstir

AU - Dalby, Andrew

AU - Snyder, Lori A.S.

AU - Wüster, Wolfgang

AU - Trim, Steve

AU - Moschos, Sterghios A.

PY - 2022/6/29

Y1 - 2022/6/29

N2 - Animal venoms are considered sterile sources of antimicrobial compounds with strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However, venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating the envenomation organ and venom microbiota of five snake and two spider species, we observed venom community structures that depend on the host venomous animal spe- cies and evidenced recovery of viable microorganisms from black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) and Indian ornamental tarantula (Poecilotheria regalis) venoms. Among the bacterial isolates recovered from N. nigricollis, we identified two venom-resistant, novel sequence types of Enterococcus faecalis whose genomes feature 16 virulence genes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of which improve bacterial membrane integrity. Our findings challenge the dogma of venom ste- rility and indicate an increased primary infection risk in the clinical management of ven- omous animal bite wounds.

AB - Animal venoms are considered sterile sources of antimicrobial compounds with strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However, venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating the envenomation organ and venom microbiota of five snake and two spider species, we observed venom community structures that depend on the host venomous animal spe- cies and evidenced recovery of viable microorganisms from black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) and Indian ornamental tarantula (Poecilotheria regalis) venoms. Among the bacterial isolates recovered from N. nigricollis, we identified two venom-resistant, novel sequence types of Enterococcus faecalis whose genomes feature 16 virulence genes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of which improve bacterial membrane integrity. Our findings challenge the dogma of venom ste- rility and indicate an increased primary infection risk in the clinical management of ven- omous animal bite wounds.

KW - drug resistance evolution

KW - extremophiles

KW - genome analysis

KW - microbiome

KW - multidrug resistance

KW - venom

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DO - 10.1128/spectrum.02408-21

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VL - 10

JO - Microbiology Spectrum

JF - Microbiology Spectrum

IS - 3

M1 - e0240821

ER -

Bacterial Adaptation to Venom in Snakes and Arachnida

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Keywords

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