Publications by year
2024
Fletcher J, Manley R, Fitch C, Bugert C, Moore K, Farbos A, Michelsen M, Alathari S, Senior N, Mills A, et al (2024). The Citizen Phage Library: Rapid Isolation of Phages for the Treatment of Antibiotic Resistant Infections in the UK.
Microorganisms,
12(2), 253-253.
Abstract:
The Citizen Phage Library: Rapid Isolation of Phages for the Treatment of Antibiotic Resistant Infections in the UK
Antimicrobial resistance poses one of the greatest threats to global health and there is an urgent need for new therapeutic options. Phages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria and phage therapy could provide a valuable tool for the treatment of multidrug-resistant infections. In this study, water samples collected by citizen scientists as part of the Citizen Phage Library (CPL) project, and wastewater samples from the Environment Agency yielded phages with activity against clinical strains Klebsiella pneumoniae BPRG1484 and Enterobacter cloacae BPRG1482. A total of 169 and 163 phages were found for K. pneumoniae and E. cloacae, respectively, within four days of receiving the strains. A third strain (Escherichia coli BPRG1486) demonstrated cross-reactivity with 42 E. coli phages already held in the CPL collection. Seed lots were prepared for four K. pneumoniae phages and a cocktail combining these phages was found to reduce melanisation in a Galleria mellonella infection model. The resources and protocols utilised by the Citizen Phage Library enabled the rapid isolation and characterisation of phages targeted against multiple strains. In the future, within a clearly defined regulatory framework, phage therapy could be made available on a named-patient basis within the UK.
Abstract.
2023
Mitchelmore P, Michell S, Fletcher J, Manley R, Chait R, Graham J, Fitch C, Zheng J, Sacher J, Mills A, et al (2023). A citizen phage library for respiratory infection. Respiratory infections and bronchiectasis.
Manley R, Doublet V, Wright ON, Doyle T, Refoy I, Hedges S, Pascall D, Carvell C, Brown MJF, Wilfert L, et al (2023). Conservation measures or hotspots of disease transmission? Agri-environment schemes can reduce disease prevalence in pollinator communities.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci,
378(1873).
Abstract:
Conservation measures or hotspots of disease transmission? Agri-environment schemes can reduce disease prevalence in pollinator communities.
Insects are under pressure from agricultural intensification. To protect pollinators, conservation measures such as the EU agri-environment schemes (AES) promote planting wildflowers along fields. However, this can potentially alter disease ecology by serving as transmission hubs or by diluting infections. We tested this by measuring plant-pollinator interactions and virus infections (DWV-A, DWV-B and ABPV) across pollinator communities in agricultural landscapes over a year. AES had a direct effect on DWV-B, reducing prevalence and load in honeybees, with a tentative general dilution effect on load in early summer. DWV-A prevalence was reduced both under AES and with increasing niche overlap between competent hosts, likely via a dilution effect. By contrast, AES had no impact on ABPV, its prevalence driven by the proportion of bumblebees in the community. Epidemiological differences were also reflected in the virus phylogenies, with DWV-B showing recent rapid expansion, while DWV-A and ABPV showed slower growth rates and geographical population structure. Phylogenies indicate that all three viruses freely circulate across their host populations. Our study illustrates how complex interactions between environmental, ecological and evolutionary factors may influence wildlife disease dynamics. Supporting pollinator nutrition can mitigate the transmission of important bee diseases, providing an unexpected boost to pollinator conservation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Infectious disease ecology and evolution in a changing world'.
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2021
Masoli JAH, Jeffries A, Temperton B, Auckland C, Michelsen M, Warwick-Dugdale J, Manley R, Farbos A, Ellard S, Knight B, et al (2021). Viral genetic sequencing identifies staff transmission of COVID-19 is important in a community hospital outbreak.
Abstract:
Viral genetic sequencing identifies staff transmission of COVID-19 is important in a community hospital outbreak
AbstractBackgroundWe have successfully used whole-genome sequencing to provide additional information for transmission pathways in infectious spread. We report and interpret genomic sequencing results in clinical context from a large outbreak of COVID-19 with 46 cases across staff and patients in a community hospital in the UK.MethodsFollowing multiple symptomatic cases within a two-week period, all staff and patients were screened by RT-PCR and staff subsequently had serology tests.ResultsThirty staff (25%) and 16 patients (62%) tested positive for COVID-19. Genomic sequencing data showed significant overlap of viral haplotypes in staff who had overlapping shift patterns. Patient haplotypes were more distinct from each other but had overlap with staff haplotypes.ConclusionsThis study includes clinical and genomic epidemiological detail that demonstrates the value of a combined approach. Viral genetic sequencing has identified that staff transmission of COVID-19 was important in this community hospital outbreak.Key pointsDetailed analysis of a large community hospital outbreak in older adults and staff with concurrent clinical and genomic data, including working patterns.Staff transmission was important in this community hospital outbreak.We found plausible associations between staff and patient cases.
Abstract.
2020
Manley R, Temperton B, Boots M, Wilfert L (2020). Contrasting impacts of a novel specialist vector on multihost viral pathogen epidemiology in wild and managed bees.
Mol Ecol,
29(2), 380-393.
Abstract:
Contrasting impacts of a novel specialist vector on multihost viral pathogen epidemiology in wild and managed bees.
Typically, pathogens infect multiple host species. Such multihost pathogens can show considerable variation in their degree of infection and transmission specificity, which has important implications for potential disease emergence. Transmission of multihost pathogens can be driven by key host species and changes in such transmission networks can lead to disease emergence. We study two viruses that show contrasting patterns of prevalence and specificity in managed honeybees and wild bumblebees, black queen cell virus (BQCV) and slow bee paralysis virus (SBPV), in the context of the novel transmission route provided by the virus-vectoring Varroa destructor. Our key result is that viral communities and RNA virus genetic variation are structured by location, not host species or V. destructor presence. Interspecific transmission is pervasive with the same viral variants circulating between pollinator hosts in each location; yet, we found virus-specific host differences in prevalence and viral load. Importantly, V. destructor presence increases the prevalence in honeybees and, indirectly, in wild bumblebees, but in contrast to its impact on deformed wing virus (DWV), BQCV and SBPV viral loads are not increased by Varroa presence, and do not show genetic evidence of recent emergence. Effective control of Varroa in managed honeybee colonies is necessary to mitigate further disease emergence, and alleviate disease pressure on our vital wild bee populations. More generally, our results highlight the over-riding importance of geographical location to the epidemiological outcome despite the complexity of multihost-parasite interactions.
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2019
Manley R, Temperton B, Doyle T, Gates D, Hedges S, Boots M, Wilfert L (2019). Knock-on community impacts of a novel vector: spillover of emerging DWV-B from Varroa-infested honeybees to wild bumblebees.
Ecol Lett,
22(8), 1306-1315.
Abstract:
Knock-on community impacts of a novel vector: spillover of emerging DWV-B from Varroa-infested honeybees to wild bumblebees.
Novel transmission routes can directly impact the evolutionary ecology of infectious diseases, with potentially dramatic effect on host populations and knock-on effects on the wider host community. The invasion of Varroa destructor, an ectoparasitic viral vector in Western honeybees, provides a unique opportunity to examine how a novel vector affects disease epidemiology in a host community. This specialist honeybee mite vectors deformed wing virus (DWV), an important re-emerging honeybee pathogen that also infects wild bumblebees. Comparing island honeybee and wild bumblebee populations with and without V. destructor, we show that V. destructor drives DWV prevalence and titre in honeybees and sympatric bumblebees. Viral genotypes are shared across hosts, with the potentially more virulent DWV-B overtaking DWV-A in prevalence in a current epidemic. This demonstrates disease emergence across a host community driven by the acquisition of a specialist novel transmission route in one host, with dramatic community level knock-on effects.
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2015
Manley R, Boots M, Wilfert L (2015). Emerging viral disease risk to pollinating insects: ecological, evolutionary and anthropogenic factors.
J Appl Ecol,
52, 331-340.
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