host-microbe interactions
Methods and ProtocolsBEExact: a Metataxonomic Database Tool for High-Resolution Inference of Bee-Associated Microbial CommunitiesThe failure of current universal taxonomic databases to support the rapidly expanding field of bee microbiota research has led to many investigators relying on “in-house” reference sets or manual classification of sequence reads (usually based on BLAST searches), often with vague identity thresholds and subjective taxonomy choices. This time expensive, error- and bias-prone process lacks standardization, cripples the potential for...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyDistinct Bacterial Pathways Influence the Efficacy of Antibiotics against Mycobacterium tuberculosisUnderstanding how Mycobacterium tuberculosis survives during antibiotic treatment is necessary to rationally devise more effective tuberculosis (TB) chemotherapy regimens. Using genome-wide mutant fitness profiling and the mouse model of TB, we identified genes that alter antibiotic efficacy specifically in the infection environment and associated several of these...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyExtensive Thioautotrophic Gill Endosymbiont Diversity within a Single Ctena orbiculata (Bivalvia: Lucinidae) Population and Implications for Defining Host-Symbiont Specificity and Species RecognitionSymbiont diversity and host/symbiont functions have been comprehensively profiled for only a few lucinid species. In this work, unprecedented thioautotrophic gill endosymbiont taxonomic diversity was characterized within a Ctena orbiculata population associated with both seagrass- and alga-covered sediments. Endosymbiont metabolisms included known chemosynthetic functions and an additional conserved, previously uncharacterized...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAsymptomatic Intestinal Colonization with Protist Blastocystis Is Strongly Associated with Distinct Microbiome Ecological PatternsGiven the results of our study and other reports of the effects of the most common human gut protist on the diversity and composition of the bacterial microbiome, Blastocystis and, possibly, other gut protists should be studied as ecosystem engineers that drive community diversity and composition.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyA Microbial Perspective on the Grand Challenges in Comparative Animal PhysiologyInteractions with microbial communities can have profound influences on animal physiology, thereby impacting animal performance and fitness. Therefore, it is important to understand the diversity and nature of host-microbe interactions in various animal groups (invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals).