Host-Microbe Biology
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMetabolic Analyses of Nitrogen Fixation in the Soybean Microsymbiont Sinorhizobium fredii Using Constraint-Based ModelingNitrogen is the most limiting macronutrient for plant growth, and rhizobia are important bacteria for agriculture because they can fix atmospheric nitrogen and make it available to legumes through the establishment of a symbiotic relationship with their host plants. In this work, we studied the nitrogen fixation process in the microsymbiont Sinorhizobium fredii at the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyComparative Analysis of Root Microbiomes of Rice Cultivars with High and Low Methane Emissions Reveals Differences in Abundance of Methanogenic Archaea and Putative Upstream FermentersRice cultivation is a major source of anthropogenic emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas with a potentially severe impact on climate change. Emission variation between rice cultivars suggests the feasibility of breeding low-emission rice, but there is a limited understanding of how genotypes affect the microbiota involved in methane cycling. Here, we show that the root microbiome of the high-emitting cultivar is enriched both in...
Observation | Host-Microbe BiologyHuman Skin, Oral, and Gut Microbiomes Predict Chronological AgeConsiderable evidence suggests that the gut microbiome changes with age or even accelerates aging in adults. Whether the age-related changes in the gut microbiome are more or less prominent than those for other body sites and whether predictions can be made about a person’s age from a microbiome sample remain unknown. We therefore combined several large studies from different countries to determine which body site’s microbiome could...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyA High-Fat/High-Protein, Atkins-Type Diet Exacerbates Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile Infection in Mice, whereas a High-Carbohydrate Diet ProtectsThe role of Western and weight-loss diets with extreme macronutrient composition in the risk and progression of CDI is poorly understood. In a longitudinal study, we showed that a high-fat/high-protein, Atkins-type diet greatly exacerbated antibiotic-induced CDI, whereas a high-carbohydrate diet protected, despite the high monosaccharide and starch content. Our study results, therefore, suggest that popular high-fat/high-protein weight-...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyImpacts of the Plateau Environment on the Gut Microbiota and Blood Clinical Indexes in Han and Tibetan IndividualsThe data presented in the present study demonstrate that the hypoxic plateau environment has a profound impact on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes in Han and Tibetan individuals. The plateau-changed signatures of the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes were not restored to the nonplateau status in the Han cohorts, even when the individuals returned to the plain from the plateau for several months. Our study will...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGalacto-Oligosaccharides Modulate the Juvenile Gut Microbiome and Innate Immunity To Improve Broiler Chicken PerformanceImprovements in the growth rate of broiler chickens can be achieved through dietary manipulation of the naturally occurring bacterial populations while mitigating the withdrawal of antibiotic growth promoters. Prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are manufactured as a by-product of dairy cheese production and can be incorporated into the diets of juvenile chickens to improve their health and performance. This study investigated the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyNetwork Analysis of the Papaya Orchard Virome from Two Agroecological Regions of Chiapas, MexicoVirus-virus interactions in plants can modify host symptoms. As a result, disease management strategies may be unsuccessful if they are based solely on visual assessment and diagnostic assays for known individual viruses. Papaya ringspot virus is an important limiting factor for papaya production and likely has interactions with other viruses that are not yet known. Using high-throughput sequencing, we recovered known and novel RNA and...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHuman Colon Mucosal Biofilms and Murine Host Communicate via Altered mRNA and microRNA Expression during CancerBacteria and bacterial biofilms have been implicated in colorectal cancer (CRC), but it is still unclear what genes these microbial communities express and how they influence the host. MicroRNAs regulate host gene expression and have been explored as potential biomarkers for CRC. An emerging area of research is the ability of microRNAs to impact growth and gene expression of members of the intestinal microbiota. This study examined the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTransgenic Testing Does Not Support a Role for Additional Candidate Genes in Wolbachia Male Killing or Cytoplasmic IncompatibilityWolbachia are widespread bacterial endosymbionts that manipulate the reproduction of diverse arthropods to spread through a population and can substantially shape host evolution. Recently, reports identified three prophage WO genes (wmk, cifA, and cifB) that transgenically recapitulate many aspects of reproductive manipulation in ...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGut Microbiota Dysbiosis Is Associated with Altered Bile Acid Metabolism in Infantile CholestasisLiver health, fecal bile acid (BA) concentrations, and gut microbiota composition are closely connected. BAs and the microbiome influence each other in the gut, where bacteria modify the BA profile, while intestinal BAs regulate the growth of commensal bacteria, maintain the barrier integrity, and modulate the immune system. Previous studies have found that the co-occurrence of gut microbiota dysbiosis and BA metabolism alteration is...