Fitness advantage of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron capsular polysaccharide in the mouse gut depends on the resident microbiota.

ABSTRACT: Many microbiota-based therapeutics rely on our ability to introduce a microbe of choice into an already-colonized intestine. In this study, we used genetically barcoded Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. theta) strains to quantify population bottlenecks experienced by a B. theta population during colonization of the mouse gut. As expected, this reveals an inverse relationship between microbiota complexity and the probability that an individual wildtype B. theta clone will colonize the gut. The polysaccharide capsule of B. theta is important for resistance against attacks from other bacteria, phage, and the host immune system, and correspondingly acapsular B. theta loses in competitive colonization against the wildtype strain. Surprisingly, the acapsu

SUBMITTER: Hoces D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10014078 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature