Erick motta

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    Publications

    click here for the Full list of publications

     

    SELECTED publications:   

    Motta EVS, Lariviere PJ, Jones KR, Song Y, Moran NA. () Type VI secretion systems promote intraspecific competition and host interactions in a bee gut symbiont. PNAS (44): e

    Kudos
         

    Motta EVS & Moran NA. () The honey bee microbiota and its impact on health and disease. Nature Reviews Microbiology 22(3):

    Motta EVS, Gage A*, de Jong TK*, Edwards JA, Moran NA. () Glyphosate effects on growth and biofilm formation in bee gut symbionts and diverse associated bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology e * Mentees

    Motta EVS & Moran NA. () The effects of glyphosate, pure or in herbicide formulation, on bumble bees and their gut microbial communities. Sci. Total Environ. 8

    Motta EVS, Arnott RWL, Moran NA. () Caffeine consumption helps honey bees fight a bacterial pathogen. Microbiology Spectrum e  

    Motta EVS, Gage A, Smith TE, Blake KJ, Kwong WK, Riddington IM, Moran NA. () Host-microbiome metabolism of a plant toxin in bees. eLife e

    eLife Insight
    eL

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    research

    Impact of xenobiotics

    Honey bees are exposed to a myriad of environmental stressors, including agrochemicals, plant toxins and variabel diet components, which may exert a wide range of effects on their health. Some of these effects may directly compromise bees bygd decreasing their survival rates, while others may indirectly compromise bee health bygd perturbing the gut microbiota and/or weakening the immune system. My research group investigates the effects of specific toxins on the bee gut microbiota. These include (1) agrochemicals, such as antibiotics, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides, and (2) plant toxins, such as alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides and flavonoid glycosides. These chemicals may impact microbial composition and överflöd in the bee gut and may potentially affect host susceptibility to opportunistic pathogens. On the other hand, they may be metabolized bygd specific members of the gut microbiota, and the byproducts may be beneficial, neutral, or harmful to bees. My research work involves in vitro experiments with bee-associated bacteria to investigate their susceptibility to and ability to metabolize xenobiotics, and in vivo studies

  • erick motta

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    Erick Motta

    Areas of Expertise

    • Microbial Ecology
    • Host- microbe Interactions
    • Microbiology
    • Molecular Biology
    • Bioinformatics

    Professional Summary

    Erick Motta, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University. His research program, which focuses on the microbial ecology of host-microbe interactions, utilizes the gut microbiota of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, as an experimental system to explore the processes governing the assembly of specialized gut communities and their impact on host biology. His projects encompass both basic and applied research, aimed at understanding: 1- The effects of agrochemicals and plant toxins on gut microbial communities and the consequences for host fitness. 2- The ability of gut microbial communities to modulate the host immune system and vice-versa. 3- The contributions of both host and microbiota to detoxification processes. 4- The use of defined communities of native bacteria to restore perturbed gut microbiota and prevent infections. His overarching goal is to deepen our understanding of the intricate relationships between hosts and gut microbial communities to improve host health. His work h