Gnotobiotic mouse model of phage-bacterial host dynamics in the human gut.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial viruses (phages) are the most abundant biological group on Earth and are more genetically diverse than their bacterial prey/hosts. To characterize their role as agents shaping gut microbial community structure, adult germ-free mice were colonized with a consortium of 15 sequenced human bacterial symbionts, 13 of which harbored one or more predicted prophages. One member, Bacteroides cellulosilyticus WH2, was represented by a library of isogenic transposon mutants that covered 90% of its genes. Once assembled, the community was subjected to a staged phage attack with a pool of live or heat-killed virus-like particles (VLPs) purified from the fecal microbiota of five healthy humans. Shotgun sequencing of DNA from the input pooled VLP preparation plus shotgun sequencing of gut micro

SUBMITTER: Reyes A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3864308 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature