The horn fly, Haematobia irritans, is one of the most economically important pests of cattle.
Insecticides have been a major element of horn fly management programs. Growing …

Giant viruses and amoebae are common in freshwater, where they can coexist with other
living multicellular organisms. We screened leeches from the species Hirudo medicinalis for …

There are trillions of microbes found throughout the human body and they exceed the
number of eukaryotic cells by 10-fold. Metagenomic studies have revealed that the majority …

Background: There are at least three distinct European leech species used medicinally:
Hirudo medicinalis, H. orientalis, and H. verbana. Infection caused by leech microbiota is the …

The FUT2 gene encodes an α-1, 2-fucosyltransferase responsible for the expression of ABO
histo-blood-group antigens on mucosal surfaces and bodily secretions. Individuals who …

The obligate mutualist Wigglesworthia morsitans provisions nutrients to tsetse flies. The
symbiont's response to thiamine (B1) supplementation of blood meals, specifically towards …

Gut microbiota play important roles in the health of their host and detailed investigation of
these organisms requires in vitro culture. Culturing strictly anaerobic bacteria can be a …

The accessibility of high-throughput sequencing has revolutionized many fields of biology. In
order to better understand host-associated viral and microbial communities, a …

Plants do not live alone as single entities but closely associate with an incredible diversity of
bacteria, archaea, fungi, and other organisms. The concept of endophyte has been …

Microbial transmission through mucosal-mediated mechanisms is widespread throughout
the animal kingdom. One example of this occurs with Hirudo verbana, the medicinal leech …