Project description:Gut-resident microbes contribute to host health via multiple mechanisms. Some of the most striking gut microbiota induced effects occur in the extraintestinal tissues and are restricted to early life. The mechanisms by which gut residing bacteria induce effects on distant host tissues and why this is restricted to a period in early life are largely unknown. We found that a subset of live gut-resident bacteria spontaneously translocate from gut to extraintestinal tissues in preweaning, but not adult mice. Translocation in preweaning mice appeared physiologic as it did not induce an inflammatory response and was in part controlled by sphingosine-1-phsophate receptor (S1PR) expressing host cells and host goblet cells. One translocating strain, Lactobacillus animalisWU, contained unique coding sequences for genes in the tyrocidine-gramicidin antibiotic-synthesizing gene cluster as well as five other regions putatively producing secondary metabolites with anti-microbial activity. Lactobacillus animalisWU exhibited antimicrobial activity against the late-onset sepsis pathogen E. coli ST69 in vitro, and translocation of L. animalisWU protected preweaning mice from systemic E. coli ST69 sepsis in vivo. These observations demonstrate a previously unappreciated higher-level symbiosis with our gut microbes.
Project description:Here, we report a CRISPR/Cas12k-transposon-assisted genome engineering (CTAGE) method that allows for high-throughput site-specific mutagenesis in microbial genomes. Exploiting the powerful CTAGE technique, we construct a site-specific transposon mutant library focusing on all the possible transcription factors (TFs) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, enabling comprehensive identification of essential genes and new factors for antibiotic resistance.
Project description:Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease that results from destruction of pancreatic β-cells. T1D subjects were recently shown to harbor distinct intestinal microbiome profiles. Based on these findings, the role of gut bacteria in T1D is being intensively investigated. The mechanism connecting intestinal microbial homeostasis with the development of T1D is unknown. Specific gut bacteria such as Bacteroides dorei (BD) and Ruminococcus gnavus (RG) show markedly increased abundance prior to the development of autoimmunity. One hypothesis is that these bacteria might traverse the damaged gut barrier, and their constituents elicit a response from human islets that causes metabolic abnormalities and inflammation. We have tested this hypothesis by exposing human islets to BD and RG in vitro, after which RNA-Seq analysis was performed. The bacteria altered expression of many islet genes. The commonly upregulated genes by these bacteria were cytokines, chemokines and enzymes, suggesting a significant effect of gut bacteria on islet antimicrobial and biosynthetic pathways. Additionally, each bacteria displayed a unique set of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Ingenuity pathway analysis of DEGs revealed that top activated pathways and diseases included TREM1 Signaling and Inflammatory Response, illustrating the ability of bacteria to induce islet inflammation. The increased levels of selected factors were confirmed using immunoblotting and ELISA methods. Our data demonstrate that islets produce a complex anti-bacterial response. The response includes both symbiotic and pathogenic aspects. Both oxidative damage and leukocyte recruitment factors were prominent, which could induce beta cell damage and subsequent autoimmunity.
Project description:Female honeybees are specified as workers or queens based on diet during early development. Workers are essentially sterile with a reduced number of ovarioles and no spermatheca. In the presence of the queen (queen mandibular pheromone) and her brood, worker ovaries are kept in an inactive quiescent state. If the queen is removed, or lost, worker bees are able to sense this change in their environment and their ovaries undergo complete remodeling producing unfertilized haploid eggs that will produce male (drone bees). In this study we analyze gene expression in queen, worker, and laying worker ovaries using RNA-seq and explore differences in the chromatin landscape (focusing on H3K27me3).
Project description:Female honeybees are specified as workers or queens based on diet during early development. Workers are essentially sterile with a reduced number of ovarioles and no spermatheca. In the presence of the queen (queen mandibular pheromone) and her brood, worker ovaries are kept in an inactive quiescent state. If the queen is removed, or lost, worker bees are able to sense this change in their environment and their ovaries undergo complete remodelling producing unfertilised haploid eggs that will produce male (drone bees). In this study we analyse gene expression in queen, worker, and laying worker ovaries using RNA-seq and explore differences in the chromatin landscape (focussing on H3K27me3).
Project description:Royal jelly (RJ) is a proteinaceous secretion of the hypopharyngeal glands (HGs) in the head of honeybee workers. It is a critical food for queen bees and young larvae that decides the fate of fertilized eggs in developing into either queen bees or worker bees during the early larval stages. RJ is also widely used in humans for health promotion as agent, such as antibacterial, antioxidant, and antiaging properties. To increase RJ yields, a stock of high RJ producing honeybees (RJBs) has genetically selected from Italian honeybees (ITBs) in China since 1980s. To date, one colony of RJBs can produce more than 10 kg of RJ per year, a yield that is 10-times greater than that produced by a colony of ITBs. To elucidate the mechanism of the enforced gland performance in producing RJ in RJBs, the spatio-temporal HG proteomes of newly emerged bees, nurse bees, and forager bees, were compared between the ITBs and RJBs. Proteins in the critical pathways that are implicated in the secretory activity of RJ in HGs are validated biochemically and biologically by manipulating the NBs into extended nursing periods and the FBs to revert into NBs. This will provide a novel mechanistic insight into the HGs achieving an enhanced biological mission of producing the valuable bee-product, RJ.
Project description:Experiment was designed (i) to analyse the strain composition of Deformed wing virus (DWV) populations in covertly and overtly infected honeybees (Apis mellifera) from Varroa-free and Varroa-infested colonies, and (ii) to determine abundance of the DWV strains following direct injection of the DWV preparations from covertly and overtly infected bees to the bee pupae haemolymph in the absence of Varroa destructor mites. Experiment included isolation of DWV preparations from the following bees: covertly-infected bees from Varroa-free colony, covertly infected bees exposed orally to the Varroa-selected DWV strains, and the overtly infected Varroa-exposed bees. Honeybee pupae were experimentally injected with those DWV preparations and sampled 4 days post injection following development of overt DWV infection. A series of the DWV cDNA fragment covering complete DWV genomic RNA sequences were amplified by RT-PCR using RNA extracted from virus preparations and the injected pupae. The cDNA preparations were sequenced using next generation(Illumina HighSeq 2000) paired-end sequencing to obtain data on the DWV strain composition.
Project description:The microsporidia Nosema ceranae are intracellular parasites that proliferate in the midgut epithelial cells of honey bees (Apis mellifera). To analyze the pathological effects of those microsporidia, we orally infected honey bee workers 7 days after their emergence. Bees were flash frozen 15 days after the infection. Then, the effects on the gut ventriculi were analyzed and compared to non-infected (control) bees.