Hokkaido University · Immunology and Microbiology
Professor Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Moustafa's research lab specializes in host-microbe interactions, with a focus on the microbiomes of wildlife and domestic animals, particularly in the context of environmental stressors and disease transmission. The lab investigates how anthropogenic factors such as captivity, translocation, and medical interventions alter host-associated microbiomes, especially in large mammals like Asian elephants and dromedary camels. A key research direction involves the molecular detection and characterization of tick-borne pathogens and symbionts using metagenomic and cell culture approaches, with particular attention to ixodid and argasid ticks. The lab also contributes to wildlife health monitoring through hematological and physiological studies in reptiles such as Nile monitors.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Human activities interfere with wild animals and lead to the loss of many animal populations. Therefore, efforts have been made to understand how wildlife can rebound from anthropogenic disturbances. An essential mechanism to adapt to environmental and social changes is the fluctuations in the host gut microbiome. Here we give a comprehensive description of anthropogenically induced microbiome alterations in Asian elephants (n = 30). We detected gut microbial changes due to overseas translocatio
Dromedary camels (<i>Camelus dromedarius</i>) are widely distributed in Africa, the Middle East and northern India. In this study, we aimed to detect tick-borne pathogens through investigating prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in camel blood based on a metagenomic approach and then to characterize potentially pathogenic organisms using traditional molecular techniques. We showed that the bacteria circulating in the blood of camels is dominated by Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes
Ticks are the second most important vector capable of transmitting diseases affecting the health of both humans and animals. <i>Amblyomma testudinarium</i> Koch 1844 (Acari: Ixodidae), is a hard tick species having a wide geographic distribution in Asia. In this study, we analyzed the composition of <i>A. testudinarium</i> whole mitogenomes from various geographical regions in Japan and investigated the population structure, demographic patterns, and phylogeographic relationship with other ixodi
Research on vector-associated microbiomes has been expanding due to increasing emergence of vector-borne pathogens and awareness of the importance of symbionts in the vector physiology. However, little is known about microbiomes of argasid (or soft-bodied) ticks due to limited access to specimens. We collected four argasid species (<i>Argas japonicus</i>, <i>Carios vespertilionis</i>, <i>Ornithodoros capensis</i>, and <i>Ornithodoros sawaii</i>) from the nests or burrows of their vertebrate host
We report blood parameters for 18 adult and 12 juvenile, free-ranging, female Nile monitors (Varanus niloticus) in Egypt. We report differences between adult and young monitors and compare parameters to those of other reptile species.
Ticks have a profound impact on public health. Haemaphysalis is one of the most widespread genera in Asia, including Japan. The taxonomy and genetic differentiation of Haemaphysalis spp. is challenging. For instance, previous studies struggled to distinguish Haemaphysalis japonica and Haemaphysalis megaspinosa due to the dearth of nucleotide sequence polymorphisms in widely used barcoding genes. The classification of H. japonica japonica and its related sub-species Haemaphysalis japonica douglas
This study was the first to examine the spread of pathogenic/endosymbiotic bacterium R. africae in the A. variegatum populations using a mitogenomic approach. The results support both vertical and horizontal transmission of R. africae within A. variegatum. These findings also highlight the potential of R. africae to adapt to multiple animal species, which may complicate efforts to control it as a human pathogen.
Piroplasms, which include <i>Babesia</i> spp. and <i>Theileria</i> spp., are protozoan parasites carried by ticks and commonly cause disease in animals and humans. Those caused by <i>Babesia</i> spp. manifest as fever, anemia, and hemoglobinuria, while <i>Theileria</i> spp. can lead to high fever, diarrhea, and lymphadenopathy. Recently, <i>Theileria capreoli</i> and an undescribed <i>Babesia</i> sp. were detected for the first time in sika deer (<i>Cervus nippon yesoensis</i>) from Hokkaido; ho
Single-molecule sequencing of a triploid, parthenogenetic North American Haemaphysalis longicornis tick allowed for the generation of a highly contiguous genome assembly that, when coupled with extensive transcriptome profiling, resulted in a robust gene catalog containing multiple candidates for further study as anti-tick vaccine antigens.
Open papers in the app to read, cite, and organize with AI.
