Microbial adaptation to venom is common in snakes and spiders

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

doi:10.1101/348433

Microbial adaptation to venom is common in snakes and spiders

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

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Animal venoms are considered sterile sources of antimicrobial compoundswith strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However,venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating theenvenomation organ and venom microbiota offive snake and two spider species, weobserved 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. Amongthe bacterial isolates recovered fromN. nigricollis,weidentified two venom-resistant,novel sequence types ofEnterococcus faecaliswhose genomes feature 16 virulencegenes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of whichimprove bacterial membrane integrity. Ourfindings 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
Pages (from-to)	1-16
Number of pages	16
Journal	Microbiology spectrum
Volume	10
Issue number	3
Early online date	23 May 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1101/348433 https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02408-21
Publication status	Published - 29 Jun 2022

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This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger

Keywords

drug resistance evolution
extremophiles
genome analysis
microbiome
multidrug resistance
venom
Ecology
General Immunology and Microbiology
Cell Biology
Microbiology (medical)
Infectious Diseases
Genetics
Physiology

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10.1101/348433Licence: CC BY-NC-ND
10.1128/spectrum.02408-21Licence: CC BY

348433v2.fullSubmitted manuscript, 28.2 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND
Venom_bacteriome_v18_revised_draft_Endnote_cleanAccepted author manuscript, 472 KBLicence: CC BY
Advance online versionFinal published version, 2.81 MBLicence: CC BY
Final published versionFinal published version, 2.8 MBLicence: CC BY
manuscript_Venom_bacteriome_v0.18 - SUPPLEMENTARY FIGURES and tablesOther version, 2.33 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Esmaeilishirazifard, E., Usher, L., Trim, C., Denise, H., Sangal, V., Tyson, G. H., Barlow, A., Redway, K. F., Taylor, J. D., Kremyda-Vlachou, M., Davies, S., Loftus, T. D., Lock, M. M. G., Wright, K., Dalby, A., Snyder, L. A. S., Wuster, W., Trim, S., & Moschos, S. A. (2022). Microbial adaptation to venom is common in snakes and spiders. Microbiology spectrum, 10(3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1101/348433, https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02408-21

@article{7958a99ec3c64020bebae0abab9ff08b,

title = "Microbial adaptation to venom is common in snakes and spiders",

abstract = "Animal venoms are considered sterile sources of antimicrobial compoundswith strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However,venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating theenvenomation organ and venom microbiota offive snake and two spider species, weobserved 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. Amongthe bacterial isolates recovered fromN. nigricollis,weidentified two venom-resistant,novel sequence types ofEnterococcus faecaliswhose genomes feature 16 virulencegenes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of whichimprove bacterial membrane integrity. Ourfindings 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, Ecology, General Immunology and Microbiology, Cell Biology, Microbiology (medical), Infectious Diseases, Genetics, Physiology",

author = "Elham Esmaeilishirazifard and Louise Usher and Carol Trim and Hubert Denise and Vartul Sangal and Tyson, \{Gregory H.\} and Axel Barlow and Redway, \{Keith F.\} and Taylor, \{John D.\} and Myrto Kremyda-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 Wuster and Steve Trim and Moschos, \{Sterghios A.\}",

note = "Funding information: This work was funded by the University of Westminster, University of Northumbria, and Venomtech, Ltd.",

year = "2022",

month = jun,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1101/348433",

language = "English",

volume = "10",

pages = "1--16",

journal = "Microbiology spectrum",

issn = "2165-0497",

publisher = "American Society for Microbiology",

number = "3",

}

Esmaeilishirazifard, E, Usher, L, Trim, C, Denise, H, Sangal, V, Tyson, GH, Barlow, A, Redway, KF, Taylor, JD, Kremyda-Vlachou, M, Davies, S, Loftus, TD, Lock, MMG, Wright, K, Dalby, A, Snyder, LAS, Wuster, W, Trim, S & Moschos, SA 2022, 'Microbial adaptation to venom is common in snakes and spiders', Microbiology spectrum, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1101/348433, https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.02408-21

TY - JOUR

T1 - Microbial adaptation to venom is common in snakes and spiders

AU - Esmaeilishirazifard, Elham

AU - Usher, Louise

AU - Trim, Carol

AU - Denise, Hubert

AU - Sangal, Vartul

AU - Tyson, Gregory H.

AU - Barlow, Axel

AU - Redway, Keith F.

AU - Taylor, John D.

AU - Kremyda-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 - Wuster, Wolfgang

AU - Trim, Steve

AU - Moschos, Sterghios A.

N1 - Funding information: This work was funded by the University of Westminster, University of Northumbria, and Venomtech, Ltd.

PY - 2022/6/29

Y1 - 2022/6/29

N2 - Animal venoms are considered sterile sources of antimicrobial compoundswith strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However,venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating theenvenomation organ and venom microbiota offive snake and two spider species, weobserved 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. Amongthe bacterial isolates recovered fromN. nigricollis,weidentified two venom-resistant,novel sequence types ofEnterococcus faecaliswhose genomes feature 16 virulencegenes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of whichimprove bacterial membrane integrity. Ourfindings 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 compoundswith strong membrane-disrupting activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. However,venomous bite wound infections are common in developing nations. Investigating theenvenomation organ and venom microbiota offive snake and two spider species, weobserved 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. Amongthe bacterial isolates recovered fromN. nigricollis,weidentified two venom-resistant,novel sequence types ofEnterococcus faecaliswhose genomes feature 16 virulencegenes, indicating infectious potential, and 45 additional genes, nearly half of whichimprove bacterial membrane integrity. Ourfindings 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

KW - Ecology

KW - General Immunology and Microbiology

KW - Cell Biology

KW - Microbiology (medical)

KW - Infectious Diseases

KW - Genetics

KW - Physiology

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85133214687

U2 - 10.1101/348433

DO - 10.1101/348433

M3 - Article

SN - 2165-0497

VL - 10

SP - 1

EP - 16

JO - Microbiology spectrum

JF - Microbiology spectrum

IS - 3

ER -

Microbial adaptation to venom is common in snakes and spiders

Abstract

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Keywords

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