Bed Bugs on the Subway?

In a new study published in Nature Communications, scientists have successfully mapped the genome of bed bugs throughout New York City and traced fragments of their DNA through the subway system. Interestingly enough, scientists found that genetic traces of these insects in northern Manhattan are rather closely related to those of southern Manhattan, while there are bigger variations amongst bed bugs in the Upper West and East side. Christopher Mason, a geneticist said the reason for this could be found by looking at the subway map, where trains run north to south and not entirely east to west. To learn about how the bedbug has evolved and spread, the New York team took DNA sample swabs from 1,400 city locations including subway cars, turnstiles, ticket vending kiosks, and aboveground sites such as parks. Ultimately, Dr. Armato an evolutionary biologist who collaborated with Dr. Mason explained there were various ways the bed bug’s DNA could wind up on the subway such as clinging on to the clothes of the six million daily riders or simply being washed down into the station. 

This article was interesting because of fact there was great diversity amongst bedbugs in New York City and that the reason behind this could be because they also ride the subway with us. Although not entirely surprising, it brings up a valid reason to watch your back next time you ride the subway.

Not Good Company in Bed

              Having to work with an exterminator may not be most people’s dreams, but most people aren’t biological geneticists. When Warren Booth, from the University of Tulsa thinks of New York City, he’s not singing the Frank Sinatra song; he’s thinking of bed bugs. Bed Bugs are perhaps the city’s bestmodel of evolutionary genetics. This is due to the species close extinction in the 1940’s as pesticides first emerged, yet an eventual flourish with new generations becoming resistant. In an article also posted by the New York Times earlier this week on these bugs, when Scientists mapped the genome of the bugs, they found co-relational variation of subspecies in relation to the subway lines. High transit is acting as a catalyst for these creatures to find ways to new niches, in which generations of bedbugs fill. Each neighborhood varies and subsequently the bedbugs niche it fulfills differs, amounting to a higher challenge to exterminate with so many environmental adaptions. So not only do New Yorkers have to pay the rising subway fare, the price essentially includes the diversification of bed bugs that travel with them.

          Dr. Booth teamed up with Dr. Ondrej Balvin, researcher from Charles University in Prague to assimilate a comprehensive data set of Bedbugs. The leading discovery was that, “The common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, feeds not only on humans but on other animals, especially bats. So as well as collecting human-feeders, the researchers gathered bedbugs from bat roosts in houses, churches and castles (Booth, 2016).” With this information, Dr. Booth was able to map out the DNA of 214 bed bugs. Although currently a part of the same species, he found extreme differences genetically in the bed bugs found in caves, and those collected by exterminators from apartments.


         This solidifies a prior hypothesis of convergent evolution; that bedbugs predominantly lived in caves, and when humans began to reside in caves, then bed bugs assimilated to their new host. One example of assimilation is the change in sleep cycle. As Bats are nocturnal bed bugs has to adapt to humans sleep cycle in order to receive sustenance. Bed bugs that still feed on bats follow their hosts sleep cycle. Also, these adapted bedbugs live longer with nutrients in human blood as opposed to those feeding on bat’s blood. This conclusion of almost near diversion within the same species is extremely exciting for Dr. Booth and others. They view these pests as a future new branch on the evolutionary tree, grafted on by humanity. However poetic of a light Dr. Booth may see the Cimex lectularius in, The Plaza Hotel still is unlikely to hold a convention presenting his results.

Bedbugs and a Model of Evolution

Surprisingly Bedbugs have more importance than the itchy rash developed when bitten by one of these monsters or the infestation of your home. They have become a model of evolution showing how bedbugs are actually becoming a new species in front of our eyes. Warren Booth, a biologist at the University of Tulsa and a co-author of the new study, states, "For something that is so hated by so many people, it might just be a perfect model organism for evolutionary questions". Bedbugs basically dissapeared in the 1940s due to the creation of DDT. However, the pest has returned rapidly in the past decade because it has evolved resistance to pesticides. Researchers including Dr. Booth have teamed up with exterminators to extract and preserve the species of bedbugs in alcohol that can later be used to extract the DNA to observe how the species is changing. 

Cimex lectularius (the common bedbug) feeds on humans and bats. Dr. Booth collected bedbugs from human households as well as bedbugs from bat roosts in houses and churches over seas. DNA sequences from 214 bedbugs were compared and found that they were very genetically distinct from one another. The history dates back to the first encounter a human had with bedbugs in caves and served as the new hosts. As time went on humans left there cave dwellings and began settling in new environments which forced the bedbugs to adapt. Adaptations to feeding on humans include longer, thinner legs because the no longer had to hang on to bats or that bedbugs that have switched there attention to humans have shorter life spans than those who feed on only bats. According to Dr. Booth, "Many bedbugs that feed on humans carry a genetic variation that makes them resistant to pesticides but, the bedbugs on bats still carry a version of the gene susceptible to pesticides."

I consider this article very interesting because we are living in a time of advanced science allowing us to experience evolution. Whether it is bedbugs or human beings evolution is happening all around us. These little insects are close to evolving into a new species different from its bat-feeding ancestors. In our life-time how many times will we be able to add a new branch to Darwin's tree of life. Who's to say more species lacking the research are going through the same changes. Its all very exciting and I hope to experience more evolutionary changes in my life time.

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Got the travel bug? There's a good chance you do

If you like to travel, like I do, you'll be disturbed to hear it's getting harder to kill the vacationer's No. 1 enemy: bedbugs.

[caption id="attachment_7227" align="alignright" width="337" caption="Thanks to their genetics, some bedbugs are immune to pesticides."][/caption]

A new study out this week in the journal Scientific Reports finds that certain colonies of bedbugs can turn on genes in their outer shells that help them shrug off the effects of pesticides. Scientists from the University of Kentucky in Lexington studied 21 groups of bedbugs and found that these genes "detoxify" pesticides and stop them before they get into the bedbugs' nerve cells. In addition, researchers found that the bugs also have a pesticide-resistant gene in their actual nerve cells, called kdr. This kdr gene plus the genes in their outer shells mean these bugs have two defense mechanisms to fight our bug sprays.

Knowing the shell is helping bedbugs survive pesticides "implies that better formulations can be designed to penetrate the cuticle (the protective outer shell layer) more effectively and thus provide better control," says entomologist Changlu Wang from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

However, scientists are still scratching their heads, wondering when these bedbugs developed their resistance qualities.

"Was it in the past ten years? The past 50? Or are we looking at the past several hundred years or more?" Zachary Adelman, an entomologist from Virginia Tech, says in a recent article of National Geographic.

Adelman says discovering the answer to that question could help scientists figure out how quickly bedbugs are evolving and what we can do to control their populations.

My wife and I travel often and this is always a concern for both of us but, especially for her. It's sad news for travelers to hear that these pests are becoming more resistant to pesticides. If you do happen to bring them home they will take over very quickly which can cost a small fortune to rid yourself of the problem. Maybe it's better to just stay home. However, a friend once told a story of how they knew a couple that had an infestation of bed bugs that spread throughout their home from a picture frame they purchased at a yard sale. So, there is more than just one way to catch a bug.

Creepy Crawlers

AHHHH, Bedbugs!; The little creepy crawlers that have gradually infested homes, schools, buildings, hotels and cities throughout the country. Although their origin is unknown , what is known is that one single mated female can infest an entire building. On December 7, 2011, Martin Enserink published an article in Science Magazine, titled “Sex and Travel, Bedbug Style”. Over the past decade, the annoying critters were imported from overseas on multiple occasions. At a local meeting, Coby Schal of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, presented his findings and conclusions on this new infestation. His team sampled 22 bedbug populations from nine states along the U.S. East Coast and examined nine so-called microsatellites, highly variable pieces of DNA that are particularly helpful in understanding genetic differences between populations. Their research shows that bedbugs from different places were genetically very distinct, which suggests very diverse origins. Once they're settled, the bugs seem to hop easily from one apartment to the next. Like everything else, the hype on bedbugs will one day vanish, just like swine flu. Its 2012, today it is bedbugs, in 10 years it will be something else.



[caption id="attachment_4036" align="aligncenter" width="386" caption="Head Scratcher. The origin of bedbugs have been debated for years."][/caption]

Hillbilly Bedbugs

Bedbugs, the plague of many. Outbreaks of bedbugs happens all over the world, most recently the United States. Researchers found that bedbugs over the year have inbred a lot. A genetic survey was placed on the genetic variation between bedbugs located in different areas, and researchers found there was a huge difference. Scientists believe that there is such a big difference that with two separate populations would not be able to breed with each other. Scientists also find it unusual that bedbugs do not have reproductive problems, bottle-necking issues, or any mutations due to all the inbreeding found with this species.