Patterns of host gene expression associated with harboring a foregut microbial community.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Harboring foregut microbial communities is considered a key innovation that allows herbivorous mammals to colonize new ecological niches. However, the functions of these chambers have only been well studied at the molecular level in ruminants. Here, we investigate gene expression in the foregut chamber of herbivorous rodents and ask whether these gene expression patterns are consistent with results in ruminants. We compared gene expression in foregut tissues of two rodent species: Stephen's woodrat (Neotoma stephensi), which harbors a dense foregut microbial community, and the lab rat (Rattus norvegicus), which lacks such a community.

Results

We found that woodrats have higher abundances of transcripts associated with smooth muscle processes, specifically a higher

SUBMITTER: Kohl KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5585965 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature