Host Preference of Beneficial Commensals in a Microbially-Diverse Environment.

ABSTRACT: Gut bacteria are often described by the neutral term commensals. However, the more we learn about their interactions with hosts, the more apparent it becomes that gut commensals often contribute positively to host physiology and fitness. Whether hosts can prefer beneficial bacteria, and how they do so, is not clear. This is of particular interest in the case of the bacterivore C. elegans, which depends on bacteria as food source, but also as gut colonizers that contribute to its physiology, from development to immunity. It is further unclear to what extent worms living in their microbially-diverse habitats can sense and distinguish between beneficial bacteria, food, and pathogens. Focusing on Enterobacteriaceae and members of closely related families, we isolated gut bacteria

SUBMITTER: Perez-Carrascal OM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9240469 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature