Host-Microbe Biology
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyInsect Transmission of Plant Pathogens: a Systems Biology PerspectiveInsect-vectored pathogens pose one of the greatest threats to plant and animal, including human, health on a global scale. Few effective control strategies have been developed to thwart the transmission of any insect-transmitted pathogen.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyCan Diet Influence Our Health by Altering Intestinal Microbiota-Derived Fecal Metabolites?The human gastrointestinal tract harbors a diverse, highly mutualistic microbial flora which could produce a myriad of specialized metabolites. These specialized metabolites are the chemical cellphones that gut microflora use to communicate with their human host and could potentially be used to cure diseases.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyRole of the Gut Microbiome in Vertebrate EvolutionDarwin referred to life as a struggle. Organisms compete for limited resources in nature, and their traits influence the outcome.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyEvolution of Bacterial Global Modulators: Role of a Novel H-NS Paralogue in the Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Strain 042Global regulators such as H-NS play key relevant roles enabling bacterial cells to adapt to a changing environment. H-NS modulates both core and horizontally transferred (HGT) genes, but the mechanism by which H-NS can differentially regulate these genes remains to be elucidated. There are several instances of bacterial cells carrying genes that encode homologues of the global regulators. The question is what the roles of these proteins...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyFecal Microbiota Transplantation in Gestating Sows and Neonatal Offspring Alters Lifetime Intestinal Microbiota and Growth in OffspringHere, for the first time, we investigate FMT as a novel strategy to modulate the porcine intestinal microbiota in an attempt to improve FE in pigs. However, reprogramming the maternal and/or offspring microbiome by using fecal transplants derived from highly feed-efficient pigs did not recapitulate the highly efficient phenotype in the offspring and, in fact, had detrimental effects on lifetime growth. Although these findings may not be...
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyEcosystem Microbiology of Coral Reefs: Linking Genomic, Metabolomic, and Biogeochemical Dynamics from Animal Symbioses to Reefscape ProcessesOver the past 2 decades, molecular techniques have established the critical role of both free-living and host-associated microbial partnerships in the environment. Advancing research to link microbial community dynamics simultaneously to host physiology and ecosystem biogeochemistry is required to broaden our understanding of the ecological roles of environmental microbes.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyHost-Microbe Interactions in Airway Disease: toward Disease Mechanisms and Novel Therapeutic StrategiesDespite growing efforts to understand the role of the microbiota in airway disease, mechanisms that link microbial community dysbiosis to chronic inflammation remain elusive. Our laboratory is interested in how altered microbiota composition or function influences airway inflammatory diseases, including chronic rhinosinusitis, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyMicrobial Eukaryotes: a Missing Link in Gut Microbiome StudiesHuman-associated microbial communities include prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms across high-level clades of the tree of life. While advances in high-throughput sequencing technology allow for the study of diverse lineages, the vast majority of studies are limited to bacteria, and very little is known on how eukaryote microbes fit in the overall microbial ecology of the human gut.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyMicrobiomes In Natura: Importance of Invertebrates in Understanding the Natural Variety of Animal-Microbe InteractionsAnimals evolved in a world teeming with microbes, which play pivotal roles in their health, development, and evolution. Although the overwhelming majority of living animals are invertebrates, the minority of “microbiome” studies focus on this group.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Who, Why, and How of Small-Molecule Production in Invertebrate Microbiomes: Basic Insights Fueling Drug DiscoveryBacteria have supplied us with many bioactive molecules for use in medicine and agriculture. However, rates of discovery have decreased as the biosynthetic capacity of the culturable biosphere has been continuously mined for many decades.