Season 3, Episode 12: Jacobson’s Organ
The boils on Carlos’s back turn out to contain botfly maggots, which got through a tear in his HAZMAT suit. Meanwhile, Mayko’s computers at NorBAC crash mysteriously. At the same time, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) grinds to a halt due to a strange biofilm in the NYSE’s computers. The biofilm turns out to contain genetically engineered magnetic bacteria. The team at NorBAC sets out to find out who or what is behind the biofilm “attack.”
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR BOTFLY LARVAE TO BE TRANSPORTED BY OTHER INSECTS?
 Image provided courtesy of AXS Studio Inc and Shaftesbury Films. |
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Botfly eggs on the legs of a tick (top). Sensing the warmth of a host below, the larvae leave their eggs and burrow into the host (bottom). |
What is a botfly?
Botflies are a family of black flies that lay their eggs on mammals. In some cases, larvae then hatch from the eggs and burrow into the skin, where they grow to one to two centimeters long! Other types of botfly eggs hatch in the intestines of a mammal that has licked and ingested eggs left on the surface of its skin.
Botfly larvae eventually leave their mammalian host and complete their life cycle—developing into pupae and adult flies—in soil.
Only one species of botfly, Dermatobia hominis, affects humans. The D. hominis female lays its eggs on a mosquito; the mosquito may then deposit the eggs under a person’s skin when it bites that person. Other botflies use houseflies rather than mosquitoes as vectors to transport their eggs. Eggs carried by a housefly are triggered to hatch when the housefly lands on a warm body.
What’s the difference between parasitism and symbiosis?
Symbiosis or symbiotic relationships occur when two unrelated organisms live together and associate closely in order for one or both to survive. Symbiotic relationships arise from two species co-evolving over time; both species change in ways that complement the other. At least one organism benefits from the relationship, while the other may benefit (mutualism), be unaffected (commensalism), or be harmed (parasitism).
In the case of botflies and humans, the botfly is in a parasitic relationship with the human, in that its larvae feed off and grow within the human host. The botfly benefits from the relationship while the human is harmed by the relationship.
Ticks also are parasites that mainly affect mammals, feeding on mammals’ warm blood. The tick benefits from this relationship, but the host can be harmed by blood-borne diseases like Lyme disease or Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.
The relationship between a botfly and mosquito or housefly is an example of commensalism, as the botfly larva benefits by being transported to its host by the mosquito or housefly, while the mosquito or housefly is not harmed by its insect hitchhiker.
So ...
Yes, certain botflies do use houseflies, mosquitoes, and less commonly, ticks, to transport their eggs to mammalian hosts.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO ENGINEER BACTERIA TO FORM BIOFILMS ON COMPUTER CHIPS?
 Image provided courtesy of AXS Studio Inc and Shaftesbury Films. |
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Magnetobacteria move across a circuit board, creating a biofilm. |
What is biofilm?
Biofilm usually is a layer of bacteria and other microbes living on a solid surface. Biofilms are found almost everywhere and can form on almost every surface; dental plaque is one well known example of a biofilm, which can corrode teeth and contribute to cavities and poor oral health. Biofilms also can form in and corrode plumbing and pipes.
Microbes in a biofilm secrete chemicals that help build a scaffold to which other microbes can stick. A biofilm grows by replicating existing microbes and by recruiting new microbes. As the microbes pack together, the film often becomes thicker and more rigid.
What are magnetobacteria?
Known as magnetotactic bacteria (MTB), these microbes can align themselves along magnetic field lines and move in response to changes in those fields. These special bacteria contain crystals of magnetite or greigite, which are iron-containing magnetic minerals.
All MTB live in water; some live where there is little or no oxygen, while others prefer slightly higher oxygen levels. It is thought that they use the Earth’s magnetic field to guide them as they swim toward areas with just the right amount of oxygen.
MTB have many potential uses in biotechnology. For example, they have been used to make batteries and to remove toxic heavy metals from water.
So ...
No, it probably isn’t possible to engineer bacteria to form biofilms on computer chips with the magnetotactic bacteria scientists have studied so far, since they all live in water and swim. Biofilms, on the other hand, are made of microbes that stay put. While it may be possible to engineer a different type of bacteria—one that doesn’t swim and can form biofilms—to be magnetotactic, this has not yet been done. It also may be possible to engineer MTB to stay put, but this has not been shown experimentally yet, either.
- by Audrey M. Huang, Ph.D.
Want to read and learn more?
To learn more about botflies that infect people, visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatobia_hominis
To learn more about biofilms, visit:
http://www.bionewsonline.com/n/what_is_biofilm.htm
To learn more about magnetotactic bacteria, visit:
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/Sites/dlc-me/curious/caOc96SC.html
