Bacterial Diversity and their Association with Anchocerca Volvulus Infection in Simulium Flies in Northern Uganda
| dc.contributor.author | Lakot, Amerida | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-04-24T08:58:48Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-04-24T08:58:48Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description | Dissertation | |
| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a chronic and debilitating neglected tropical disease resulting from recurrent infections with the parasitic filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus. This disease is transmitted by blackflies (Simulium species) and poses significant health challenges to affected populations. To date, vector control of blackflies has largely relied on chemical insecticides, an approach that has several drawbacks. There is a pressing need for alternative biological strategies for vector control, one potential approach being the use of 'probiotic' bacteria to modify the physiology of the vector's gut, thereby creating an environment that is hostile to pathogens. This study aimed to survey the bacterial communities in the guts of blackflies from onchocerciasis foci in northern Uganda to identify species with the potential to interrupt onchocerciasis transmission. Simulium flies (n=534) were collected from five sites in Nwoya, Pader, Amuru and Moyo districts in Northern Uganda. The flies were extracted using the SDS method and tests for O. volvulus infection were done using nested PCR. Twenty-five infected flies and forty-seven non-infected Simulium flies were then run for 16s metagenomic PCR using the 16S Barcoding Kit. The library was then subjected to nanopore sequencing. The sequencing identified 12 bacterial phyla with Proteobacteria as the predominant with a relative abundance of 89.7%. The most abundant genera were Enterobacter with 21.4% out of the 149 bacterial genera identified. The bacterial diversity across the sampled districts were significantly different basing on the Shannon index (p=0.26). Eight bacterial genera were significantly associated with flies infected with O. volvulus: Peptoniphilus (p=0.009), Vogesella (p=0.029), Aquabacterium (p=0.018), Curvibacter (P=0.034), Paucibacter (P=0.004), Massilia (P=0.011), Mannheimia (p=0.011) and Shimwellia (P=0.036). On the other hand, six bacterial genera were identified to be predominantly associated with uninfected status. These included Enterococcus (p= 0.03), Citrobacter (p=0.043), Haemophilus (p=0.037), Shewanella (p=0.035), Halotalea (p=0.020) and Zymobacter (p=0.018). The study identified eight novel bacterial genera linked to O. volvulus infection and six associated with non-infection in Simulium flies. Antibacterial drugs could be developed to target the infection-associated genera, while symbiotic bacteria in non-infected flies could be modified to produce molecules against O. volvulus. Further research is needed to understand the physiological mechanisms of these bacteria, which could lead to effective biocontrol strategies. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Self Sponsorship | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Lakot Amerinnda (2024).Bacterial Diversity and their Association with Anchocerca Volvulus Infection in Simulium Flies in Northern Uganda. Gulu University. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14270/821 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Unpublish Dissertation_Gulu University | |
| dc.title | Bacterial Diversity and their Association with Anchocerca Volvulus Infection in Simulium Flies in Northern Uganda | |
| dc.type | Thesis |