Host-Microbe Biology
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyIncreasing the Hindgut Carbohydrate/Protein Ratio by Cecal Infusion of Corn Starch or Casein Hydrolysate Drives Gut Microbiota-Related Bile Acid Metabolism To Stimulate Colonic Barrier FunctionHigh-fiber or high-protein diets could alter gut microbiota and health in the large intestine, but factors involved in the effects remain unclear. The present study for the first time demonstrates that the starch- and casein-induced C/N ratio in the hindgut is an important factor. Using the cannulated pig model, we found that the distinct C/N ratio induced by cecal infusion of corn starch or casein hydrolysate was linearly correlated...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMaster Sculptor at Work: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Infection Uniquely Modifies Mitochondrial Proteolysis during Its Control of Human Cell DeathTo our knowledge, this is the first study of the mitochondrial proteome or N-terminome during bacterial infection. Identified cleavage sites that had not been previously reported in the mitochondrial N-terminome and that were not generated in canonical apoptosis revealed a pathogen-specific strategy to control human cell apoptosis. These data inform new mechanisms of virulence factors targeting mitochondria and apoptosis during...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMucosal Microbiota and Metabolome along the Intestinal Tract Reveal a Location-Specific RelationshipIn a healthy colon, the microbiota produces a vast amount of metabolites that are essential to maintaining homeostasis in the colon microenvironment. In fact, these metabolites produced by the microbiota have been linked to diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and colorectal cancer. In this study, we used healthy nonhuman primate models to investigate the relationship between microbiota and tissue metabolites. We found that...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyExperimental Evolution In Vivo To Identify Selective Pressures during Pneumococcal ColonizationEvolution is a powerful force that can be experimentally harnessed to gain insight into how populations evolve in response to selective pressures. Herein we tested the applicability of experimental evolutionary approaches to gain insight into how the major human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae responds to repeated colonization events using a murine model. These...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyRecombinant HcGAPDH Protein Expressed on Probiotic Bacillus subtilis Spores Protects Sheep from Haemonchus contortus Infection by Inducing both Humoral and Cell-Mediated ResponsesInitial analyses of the abomasal microbiota of sheep using 16S rRNA sequencing suggested that probiotic bacteria played a protective role in against H. contortus infection. A recombinant Bacillus subtilis expressing a fusion protein CotB-HcGAPDH on its spore’s surface induced strong Th1 immune response in a murine model. The same probiotic recombinant, upon...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTime Series Resolution of the Fish Necrobiome Reveals a Decomposer Succession Involving Toxigenic Bacterial PathogensThe microbial decomposition of animal tissues is an important ecological process that impacts nutrient cycling in natural environments. We studied the microbial decomposition of a common North American fish (rainbow darters) over four time points, combining 16S rRNA gene and shotgun metagenomic sequence data to obtain both taxonomic and functional perspectives. Our data revealed a strong community succession that was reproduced across...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyCommensal Oral Rothia mucilaginosa Produces Enterobactin, a Metal-Chelating SiderophoreThe communication language of the human oral microbiota is vastly underexplored. However, a few studies have shown that specialized small molecules encoded by BGCs have critical roles such as in colonization resistance against pathogens and quorum sensing. Here, by using a genome mining approach in combination with compound screening of growth cultures, we identified that the commensal oral community member R. mucilaginosa...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyNuclear Ssr4 Is Required for the In Vitro and In Vivo Asexual Cycles and Global Gene Activity of Beauveria bassianaSsr4 is known to serve as a cosubunit of chromatin-remodeling SWI/SNF and RSC complexes in yeasts but has not been functionally characterized in fungi. This study unveils for the first time the pleiotropic effects caused by deletion of ssr4 and its role in mediating global gene expression in a fungal insect pathogen. Our findings confirm an essential role of Ssr4 in hydrophobin biosynthesis and assembly required for growth,...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologySelective Upregulation of Transcripts for Six Molecules Related to T Cell Costimulation and Phagocyte Recruitment and Activation among 734 Immunity-Related Genes in the Brain during Perforin-Dependent, CD8+ T Cell-Mediated Elimination of Toxoplasma gondii CystsT. gondii establishes a chronic infection by forming tissue cysts, which can grow into sizes greater than 50 μm in diameter as a consequence of containing hundreds to thousands of organisms surrounded by the cyst wall within infected cells. Our recent studies using murine models uncovered that CD8+ cytotoxic T cells penetrate into the cysts in a perforin-...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMeta-analysis of 16S rRNA Microbial Data Identified Distinctive and Predictive Microbiota Dysbiosis in Colorectal Carcinoma Adjacent TissueTurbulent fecal and tissue microbiome dysbiosis of colorectal carcinoma and adenoma has been identified, and some taxa have been proven to be carcinogenic. However, the microbiomes of surrounding adjacent tissues of colonic cancerous tissues were seldom investigated uniformly on a large scale. Here, we characterize the microbiome signatures and dysbiosis of various colonic cancer sample groups. We found a high correlation between...