A metabolomic- and transcriptomic-level investigation of ant brains infected with the lancet liver fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum

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dc.contributor.advisorWasmuth, James
dc.contributor.authorLi, Chenhua
dc.contributor.committeememberGoater, Cameron
dc.contributor.committeememberCartar, Ralph
dc.contributor.committeememberLynch, Tarah
dc.date2023-02
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-06T21:23:24Z
dc.date.available2023-01-06T21:23:24Z
dc.date.issued2022-12-22
dc.description.abstractParasites often manipulate host phenotypes to facilitate their own transmission. Wood ants, Formica aserva, infected with larvae of the lancet liver fluke, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, leave their nests during the cool hours of the day to ascend and attached to a plant, where they remain overnight, and detach the next morning when temperatures rise returning to their nest. They repeat this bizarre attachment and detachment sequence for the rest of the summer. My thesis seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complex manipulation of host behaviour that is ‘on-then-off’ through metabolomics and transcriptomics approaches. I first characterized changes in the metabolite concentrations in ant brains collected from a site of D. dendriticum emergence in southern Alberta, Canada. Within the laboratory, I recreated the manipulation cycle to mimic pre-attached, attached, and post-attached stages, and sampled infected and uninfected ant brains from each stage. Mean brain concentration of neurotransmitters tyramine and serotonin were reduced in infected ants compared to uninfected during detachment phases by 22% and 17%, respectively. These reductions paralleled a 40% reduction in overall host activity in infected versus uninfected ants during the detachment phase. I then compared the gene expression pattern of brains from infected and uninfected ants at the same samples stages as above. I found that 13,556 genes were differentially expressed, including those involved in environmental sensing and the production of biogenic monoamines. I found genes involved in odorant and vision were downregulated in attached infected ants. Vision genes were upregulated in post-attached infected ants compared to uninfected controls. Genes involved in serotonin synthesis were also downregulated during the post-attached stages in infected ants. These results support that the regulation of biogenic monoamines in the brains of infected ants plays a role in this complex manipulation of host behaviour. Overall, this study helps us better understand how D. dendriticum manipulates their ant host behaviour. My findings show that the mechanisms driving reversible manipulations is more complex than the parasite-induced control of ‘on-then-off’ triggers. In the D. dendriticum-ant system, different mechanisms are involved at different stages of the manipulation.en_US
dc.identifier.citationLi, C. (2023). A metabolomic- and transcriptomic-level investigation of ant brains infected with the lancet liver fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/115658
dc.identifier.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/40584
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyVeterinary Medicineen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjecthost manipulationen_US
dc.subjectaltered behaviouren_US
dc.subjectparasite transmissionen_US
dc.subjectTrematodaen_US
dc.subjectbiogenic monoaminesen_US
dc.subjectDicrocoelium dendriticumen_US
dc.subjectFormica aservaen_US
dc.subject.classificationBioinformaticsen_US
dc.subject.classificationEntomologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeneticsen_US
dc.subject.classificationBiology--Molecularen_US
dc.subject.classificationParasitologyen_US
dc.titleA metabolomic- and transcriptomic-level investigation of ant brains infected with the lancet liver fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticumen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineVeterinary Medical Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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