Insects as allies in biotechnology: a sevenyears exploration of neotropical social wasps for novel antibiotic compounds
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Insects are one of the most significant organisms in terrestrial ecosystems, but they are also
crucial in human-modified environments such as crops and cities. Insects have been the subject
of study for a long time, but with the advent of biotechnology, the focus of these studies is
shifting. For instance, social insects are being researched due to the symbiotic relationships
they maintain with microorganisms that produce antimicrobial substances. For this reason, the
Biotechnology Research Center (CIB) of the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR) has
conducted two studies to determine the presence of actinobacteria in colonies of social wasps
and to test their antibiotic activity. The main objective of this paper was to perform a review of the
results obtained from the research projects conducted at the Biotechnology Research Center
(CIB). As a result of these studies, a collection of 60 actinobacteria has been established, which
also inhibited the growth of strains related to human and insect pathogens. Due to these findings,
two research projects are being conducted to analyze the genome of the strains with the highest
inhibition, and to characterize the secondary metabolites. The findings have shown that wasps
belonging to the Epiponini tribe maintain associations with several genera of actinobacteria
that exhibit antibiotic activity, and that these strains possess a variety of genes associated with
the production of bioactive compounds. The results demonstrate the great potential of these
organisms for the discovery of new natural antimicrobial products.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Los autores conservan los derechos de autor y ceden a la revista el derecho de la primera publicación y pueda editarlo, reproducirlo, distribuirlo, exhibirlo y comunicarlo en el país y en el extranjero mediante medios impresos y electrónicos. Asimismo, asumen el compromiso sobre cualquier litigio o reclamación relacionada con derechos de propiedad intelectual, exonerando de responsabilidad a la Editorial Tecnológica de Costa Rica. Además, se establece que los autores pueden realizar otros acuerdos contractuales independientes y adicionales para la distribución no exclusiva de la versión del artículo publicado en esta revista (p. ej., incluirlo en un repositorio institucional o publicarlo en un libro) siempre que indiquen claramente que el trabajo se publicó por primera vez en esta revista.
References
Hölldobler, T.B. y Wilson, E.O., The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect
Societies, vol. 85. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009
F. Sánchez-Bayo y K. A. G. Wyckhuys, «Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers», Biol.
Conserv., vol. 232, pp. 8-27, abr. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020.
Arnold van Huis, Harmke Klunder, Esther Mertens, Afton Halloran, Giulia Muir, y Paul Vantomme, «Edible
insects: future prospects for food and feed security». Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAO, 2013.
S. Belluco et al., «Insects and Public Health: An Overview», Insects, vol. 14, n.o
, Art. n.o
, mar. 2023, doi:
3390/insects14030240.
C. Jansen y K.-H. Kogel, «Insect Antimicrobial Peptides as New Weapons Against Plant Pathogens», en Insect
Biotechnology, A. Vilcinskas, Ed., Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 123-144. 2011 doi: 10.1007/978-90-
-9641-8_7.
J. Gatehouse y D. Price, «Protection of Crops Against Insect Pests Using RNA Interference», en Insect
Biotechnology, vol. 2, pp. 145-168. 2011. doi: 10.1007/978-90-481-9641-8_8.
K. Mukherjee, E. Domann, y T. Hain, «The Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella as an Alternative Model Host
for Human Pathogens», en Insect Biotechnology, A. Vilcinskas, Ed., Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp.
-14. 2011. doi: 10.1007/978-90-481-9641-8_1.
T. Roeder, K. Isermann, C. Wagner, y C. Warmbold, «Fruit Flies as Models in Biomedical Research – A
Drosophila Asthma Model», en Insect Biotechnology, A. Vilcinskas, Ed., Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp.
-27. 2011. doi: 10.1007/978-90-481-9641-8_2.
M. Kaltenpoth, «Actinobacteria as mutualists: general healthcare for insects?», Trends Microbiol., vol. 17, n.o
, pp. 529-535, dic. 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2009.09.006.
A. Stow y A. Beattie, «Chemical and genetic defenses against disease in insect societies», Brain. Behav.
Immun., vol. 22, n.o
, pp. 1009-1013, oct. 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2008.03.008.
S. Turillazzi, N. Meriggi, y D. Cavalieri, «Mutualistic Relationships between Microorganisms and Eusocial
Wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)», Microorganisms, vol. 11, n.o
, Art. n.o
, may 2023, doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11051340.
M. Kaltenpoth et al., «‘Candidatus Streptomyces philanthi’, an endosymbiotic streptomycete in the antennae
of Philanthus digger wasps», Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol., vol. 56, n.o
, pp. 1403-1411, 2006, doi: 10.1099/
ijs.0.64117-0.
J. Kroiss et al., «Symbiotic streptomycetes provide antibiotic combination prophylaxis for wasp offspring», Nat.
Chem. Biol., vol. 6, n.o
, pp. 261-263, abr. 2010, doi: 10.1038/nchembio.331.
M. D. Hastings, D. C. Queller, F. Eischen, y J. E. Strassmann, «Kin selection, relatedness, and worker control
of reproduction in a large-colony epiponine wasp, Brachygastra mellifica», Behav. Ecol., vol. 9, n.o
, pp. 573-
, ene. 1998, doi: 10.1093/beheco/9.6.573.
A. V. Santos, R. J. Dillon, V. M. Dillon, S. E. Reynolds, y R. I. Samuels, «Ocurrence of the antibiotic producing
bacterium Burkholderia sp. in colonies of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa», FEMS Microbiol. Lett.,
vol. 239, n.o
, pp. 319-323, oct. 2004, doi: 10.1016/j.femsle.2004.09.005.
C. R. Currie, J. A. Scott, R. C. Summerbell, y D. Malloch, «Fungus-growing ants use antibiotic-producing bacteria to control garden parasites», Nature, vol. 398, n.o
, pp. 701-704, abr. 1999, doi: 10.1038/19519.
P. Graystock y W. O. H. Hughes, «Disease resistance in a weaver ant, Polyrhachis dives, and the role of
antibiotic-producing glands», Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., vol. 65, n.o
, pp. 2319-2327, dic. 2011, doi: 10.1007/
s00265-011-1242-y.
E. B. Van Arnam et al., «Selvamicin, an atypical antifungal polyene from two alternative genomic contexts»,
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., vol. 113, n.o
, pp. 12940-12945, nov. 2016, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1613285113.
M. Poulsen, W. O. H. Hughes, y J. J. Boomsma, «Differential resistance and the importance of antibiotic production in Acromyrmex echinatior leaf-cutting ant castes towards the entomopathogenic fungus Aspergillus
nomius», Insectes Sociaux, vol. 53, n.o
, pp. 349-355, ago. 2006, doi: 10.1007/s00040-006-0880-y.
C. Tranter, P. Graystock, C. Shaw, J. F. S. Lopes, y W. O. H. Hughes, «Sanitizing the fortress: protection of ant
brood and nest material by worker antibiotics», Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., vol. 68, n.o
, pp. 499-507, mar. 2014,
doi: 10.1007/s00265-013-1664-9.
A. A. Madden, A. Grassetti, J.-A. N. Soriano, y P. T. Starks, «Actinomycetes with Antimicrobial Activity Isolated
from Paper Wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) Nests», Environ. Entomol., vol. 42, n.o
, pp. 703-710,
ago. 2013, doi: 10.1603/EN12159.
B. Matarrita-Carranza et al., «Streptomyces sp. M54: an actinobacteria associated with a neotropical social
wasp with high potential for antibiotic production», Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, vol. 114, n.o
, pp. 379-398, abr.
, doi: 10.1007/s10482-021-01520-y.
B. Matarrita-Carranza, R. D. Moreira-Soto, C. Murillo-Cruz, M. Mora, C. R. Currie, y A. A. Pinto-Tomas,
«Evidence for Widespread Associations between Neotropical Hymenopteran Insects and Actinobacteria»,
Front. Microbiol., vol. 8, oct. 2017, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02016.
Jeanne RL, «The swarm founding Polistinae», en The Social Biology of Wasps, Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds.).,
Ithaca: Cornell University, 1991, pp. 7-29.
V. Corby-Harris, P. Maes, y K. E. Anderson, «The Bacterial Communities Associated with Honey Bee (Apis
mellifera) Foragers», PLOS ONE, vol. 9, n.o
, p. e95056, abr. 2014, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095056.
S. Schmidt, S. Kildgaard, H. Guo, C. Beemelmanns, y M. Poulsen, «The chemical ecology of the fungusfarming termite symbiosis», Nat. Prod. Rep., vol. 39, n.o
, pp. 231-248, feb. 2022, doi: 10.1039/D1NP00022E.
Chavarría-Pizarro, L, «Los insectos y la biotecnología: avispas sociales como fuente de nuevos compuestos
antibióticos», Revista Tecnología en Marcha, vol. 32, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.18845/tm.v32i9.4639.
M. V. Baio, F. B. Noll, y R. Zucchi, «Shape differences rather than size differences between castes in the
Neotropical swarm-founding wasp Metapolybia docilis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Epiponini)», BMC Evol. Biol.,
vol. 3, n.o
, p. 10, may 2003, doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-3-10.
F. S. Nascimento, I. C. Tannure-Nascimento, y R. Zucchi, «Behavioral mediators of cyclical oligogyny in the
Amazonian swarm-founding wasp Asteloeca ujhelyii (Vespidae, Polistinae, Epiponini)», Insectes Sociaux, vol.
, n.o
, pp. 17-23, feb. 2004, doi: 10.1007/s00040-003-0696-y.
L. Chavarría-Pizarro * y M. J. West-Eberhard, «The behavior and natural history of Chartergellus, a little-known
genus of neotropical social wasps (Vespidae Polistinae Epiponini)», Ethol. Ecol. Evol., vol. 22, n.o
, pp. 317-
, nov. 2010, doi: 10.1080/03949370.2010.510035.
L. Chavarría-Pizarro, K. Núñez-Montero, M. Gutiérrez-Araya, W. Watson-Guido, W. Rivera-Méndez, y J.
Pizarro-Cerdá, «Novel strains of Actinobacteria associated with neotropical social wasps (Vespidae; Polistinae,
Epiponini) with antimicrobial potential for natural product discovery», FEMS Microbes, vol. 5, p. xtae005, ene.
, doi: 10.1093/femsmc/xtae005.
M. Gutiérrez-Araya, K. Núñez-Montero, J. Pizarro-Cerdá, y L. Chavarría-Pizarro, «Draft Genome Sequences
of Saccharopolyspora sp. Strains and Streptomyces sp. Strains, Isolated from Social Wasps (Vespidae;
Polistinae: Epiponini)», Microbiol. Resour. Announc., vol. 11, n.o
, pp. e00935-21, ene. 2022, doi: 10.1128/
MRA.00935-21.
D. Rojas-Villalta, K. Núñez-Montero, J. Pizarro-Cerdá, y L. Chavarría-Pizarro, «Draft Genome Sequences of
Tsukamurella sp. 8F and 8J Strains Isolated from Social Wasps (Vespidae; Polistinae: Epiponini)», Microbiol.
Resour. Announc., vol. 12, n.o
, pp. e00237-23, may 2023, doi: 10.1128/mra.00237-23