Microbial byproducts determine reproductive fitness of free-living and parasitic nematodes.

ABSTRACT: Trichuris nematodes reproduce within the microbiota-rich mammalian intestine and lay thousands of eggs daily, facilitating their sustained presence in the environment and hampering eradication efforts. Here, we show that bacterial byproducts facilitate the reproductive development of nematodes. First, we employed a pipeline using the well-characterized, free-living nematode C. elegans to identify microbial factors with conserved roles in nematode reproduction. A screen for E. coli mutants that impair C. elegans fertility identified genes in fatty acid biosynthesis and ethanolamine utilization pathways, including fabH and eutN. Additionally, Trichuris muris eggs displayed defective hatching in the presence of fabH- or eutN-deficient E. coli due to reduced arginine or elevated aldehydes, res

SUBMITTER: Venzon M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9187612 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature