Interactions between Bacillus anthracis and plants may promote anthrax transmission

Environmental reservoirs are essential in the maintenance and transmission of anthrax but are poorly characterized. The anthrax agent, Bacillus anthracis was long considered an obligate pathogen that is dormant and passively transmitted in the environment. However, a growing number of laboratory stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS neglected tropical diseases 2014-06, Vol.8 (6), p.e2903-e2903
Main Authors: Ganz, Holly H, Turner, Wendy C, Brodie, Eoin L, Kusters, Martina, Shi, Ying, Sibanda, Heniritha, Torok, Tamas, Getz, Wayne M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
Animals
Anthrax
Anthrax - transmission
Bacillus anthracis
Bacillus anthracis - isolation & purification
Bacteriology
Biology and Life Sciences
Demographic aspects
Disease transmission
Drought
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Enneapogon desvauxii
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Experiments
Grasslands
Health aspects
Livestock
Medicine and Health Sciences
Methods
Plant Development
Plant growth
Poaceae - microbiology
Poaceae - physiology
Risk factors
Studies
Worms
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Summary:Environmental reservoirs are essential in the maintenance and transmission of anthrax but are poorly characterized. The anthrax agent, Bacillus anthracis was long considered an obligate pathogen that is dormant and passively transmitted in the environment. However, a growing number of laboratory studies indicate that, like some of its close relatives, B. anthracis has some activity outside of its vertebrate hosts. Here we show in the field that B. anthracis has significant interactions with a grass that could promote anthrax spore transmission to grazing hosts. Using a local, virulent strain of B. anthracis, we performed a field experiment in an enclosure within a grassland savanna. We found that B. anthracis increased the rate of establishment of a native grass (Enneapogon desvauxii) by 50% and that grass seeds exposed to blood reached heights that were 45% taller than controls. Further we detected significant effects of E. desvauxii, B. anthracis, and their interaction on soil bacterial taxa richness and community composition. We did not find any evidence for multiplication or increased longevity of B. anthracis in bulk soil associated with grass compared to controls. Instead interactions between B. anthracis and plants may result in increased host grazing and subsequently increased transmission to hosts.
ISSN:1935-2735
1935-2727
1935-2735
DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002903