Bacterial contact induces polar plug disintegration to mediate whipworm egg hatching.

ABSTRACT: The bacterial microbiota promotes the life cycle of the intestine-dwelling whipworm Trichuris by mediating hatching of parasite eggs ingested by the mammalian host. Despite the enormous disease burden associated with Trichuris colonization, the mechanisms underlying this transkingdom interaction have been obscure. Here, we used a multiscale microscopy approach to define the structural events associated with bacteria-mediated hatching of eggs for the murine model parasite Trichuris muris. Through the combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and serial block face SEM (SBFSEM), we visualized the outer surface morphology of the shell and generated 3D structures of the egg and larva during the hatching process. These images revealed that exposure to hatching-inducing bacteria catalyzed

SUBMITTER: Robertson A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10550136 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature