Phenotypic Parallelism during Experimental Adaptation of a Free-Living Bacterium to the Zebrafish Gut.

ABSTRACT: Although animals encounter a plethora of bacterial species throughout their lives, only a subset colonize vertebrate digestive tracts, and these bacteria can profoundly influence the health and development of their animal hosts. However, our understanding of how bacteria initiate symbioses with animal hosts remains underexplored, and this process is central to the assembly and function of gut bacterial communities. Therefore, we used experimental evolution to study a free-living bacterium as it adapts to a novel vertebrate host by serially passaging replicate populations of Shewanella oneidensis through the intestines of larval zebrafish (Danio rerio). After approximately 200 bacterial generations, isolates from evolved populations improved their ability to colonize larval ze

SUBMITTER: Lebov JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7439477 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature