Project description:Emerging data has highlighted the importance of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), particularly butyrate, in regulating ruminal homeostasis in vivo isolated epithelial cells. However, little is known about other SCFAs like acetate or propionate, and the interaction between rumen microbes and epithelial immunity are rarely reported. Here, we firstly combined infusion of three SCFAs, to study their different roles in ruminal development, antioxidant capacity, barrier functions, and immunity, as well as cross-talk with ruminal microbiome (16S rRNA sequencing data of rumen digesta) and derived transcriptome (RNA-Seq) and metabolism using an in vivo goat model.
Project description:The association between soil microbes and plant roots is present in all natural and agricultural environments. Microbes can be beneficial, pathogenic, or neutral to the host plant development and adaptation to abiotic or biotic stresses. Progress in investigating the functions and changes in microbial communities in diverse environments have been rapidly developing in recent years, but the changes in root function is still largely understudied. The aim of this study was to determine how soil bacteria influence maize root transcription and microRNAs (miRNAs) populations in a controlled inoculation of known microbes over a defined time course. At each time point after inoculation of the maize inbred line B73 with ten bacterial isolates, DNA and RNA were isolated from roots. The V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified from the DNA and sequenced with the Illumina MiSeq platform. Amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene indicated that most of the microbes successfully colonized maize roots. The colonization was dynamic over time and varied with the specific bacterial isolate. Small RNA sequencing and mRNA-Seq was done to capture changes in the root transcriptome from 0.5 to 480 hours after inoculation. The transcriptome and small RNA analyses revealed epigenetic and transcriptional changes in roots due to the microbial inoculation. This research provides the foundational data needed to understand how plant roots interact with bacterial partners and will be used to develop predictive models for root response to bacteria.
Project description:Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are immune cells that play a crucial role in maintaining tolerance to harmless antigens, including commensal microbes. In the intestine, Tregs can be classified into subsets based on their expression of transcription factors Helios, Rorg, Gata3 and cMaf. The exact functions of the intestinal Treg subsets and their role in maintaining tolerance to intestinal microbes is not fully understood. Here, we generated conditional knockout mice of each Treg subset and profiled the composition of their intestinal microbiota by performing 16S rRNA sequencing of stool from conditional knockouts and matched littermate controls.
Project description:Emerging data has highlighted the importance of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), particularly butyrate, in regulating ruminal homeostasis in vivo isolated epithelial cells. However, little is known about other SCFAs like acetate or propionate, and the interaction between rumen microbes and epithelial immunity are rarely reported. Here, we firstly combined infusion of three SCFAs, to study their different roles in ruminal development, antioxidant capacity, barrier functions, and immunity, as well as cross-talk with ruminal microbiome (16S rRNA sequencing data of rumen digesta) and derived transcriptome (RNA-Seq) and metabolism using an in vivo goat model.