Project description:Sloths, a group of xenarthran mammals comprised of 6 distinct species, have been the focus of much physiological animal research due to their extremely slow metabolisms, deliberate movements, and their status as a species relatively unchanged for over 26 million years. However, despite all the effort aimed at understanding these unique characteristics, the sloth genome remains largely unexplored. Due to the link between genetics and observed traits, such an investigation could potentially lead to insights regarding the genetic basis of sloth behaviors and characteristics. In this exploratory investigation, we performed genomic and transcriptomic analysis of a female Choloepus didactylus (Linnaeus’s Two-Toed Sloth). Transcriptome analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) showed gene expression levels in two-toed sloths, which are conjectured to be responsible for many of the unique features of two-toed sloths and opens a path towards future exploratory research into specific gene and protein functions tied to the unique characteristics of the sloth species.
Project description:Persistent mucosal inflammation and microbial infection are characteristic of Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS). Though mucosal microbiota dysbiosis is a characteristic feature of other chronic inflammatory diseases, the relationship between sinus microbiota composition and CRS is unknown. Here we demonstrate, using comparative microbiome profiling of a cohort of CRS patients and healthy subjects, that the sinus microbiota of CRS patients exhibit significantly reduced bacterial diversity. Characteristic of this community collapse is the depletion of multiple, phylogenetically distinct, Lactic Acid Bacteria and the concomitant increase in relative abundance of a single species, Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum. Recapitulating the conditions observed in our human cohort in a murine model confirmed the pathogenic potential of C. tuberculostearicum and the critical necessity for a replete mucosal microbiota to protect against this species. Moreover, we provide evidence that Lactobacillus sakei, identified from our comparative microbiome analyses as a potentially protective species, affords defense against C. tuberculostearicum sinus infection, even in the context of a depleted sinus bacterial community. These studies demonstrate that sinus mucosal health is highly dependent on the composition of the resident microbiota, and identifies a new sino-pathogen and a strong bacterial candidate for therapeutic intervention. A total of 14 samples were profiled for microbiome composition: 7 from non-sinusitis patients, and 7 from patients with clinically diagnosed chronic sinusitis.
Project description:The objective of this study is to investigate the compositional differences in the bile microbiota between malignant (BTC) and benign biliary conditions, in order to gain new insights into the pathogenesis of biliary tract cancer.
Project description:Morphine causes microbial dysbiosis. In this study we focused on restoration of native microbiota in morphine treated mice and looked at the extent of restoration and immunological consequences of this restoration. Fecal transplant has been successfully used clinically, especially for treating C. difficile infection2528. With our expanding knowledge of the central role of microbiome in maintenance of host immune homeostasis17, fecal transplant is gaining importance as a therapy for indications resulting from microbial dysbiosis. There is a major difference between fecal transplant being used for the treatment of C. difficile infection and the conditions described in our studies. The former strategy is based on the argument that microbial dysbiosis caused by disproportionate overgrowth of a pathobiont can be out-competed by re-introducing the missing flora by way of a normal microbiome transplant. This strategy is independent of host factors and systemic effects on the microbial composition. Here, we show that microbial dysbiosis caused due to morphine can be reversed by transplantation of microbiota from the placebo-treated animals.
Project description:Early life gut microbiota plays a critical role in gut development, maturation of the immune response and protection against enteric pathogens such as Salmonella. In this study, we investigated how different gut microbiota compositions influence the host transcriptomic signatures and susceptibility to Salmonella infection in chicks.
Project description:The role of gut microbiota in modulating host tRNA modifications and expression has not yet been studied. In this experiment, we applied DM-tRNA-seq and normal tRNA-seq to obtain and infer the cytosolic and mitochondrial tRNA modifications and expression of four tissues (brain, intestine, kidney, and liver) in the specific pathogen-free (SPF) and germ-free (GF) mice, respectively. In conclusion, we confirmed that the modifications and expression of both cytosolic and mitochondrial tRNAs were influenced by not only tissue-specific but also microbiota-dependent manners. The present study facilitates comprehensive insights and better understanding into the interactions between the gut microbiota and the tRNA modifications and expression among host tissues
Project description:We report that depletion of the maternal microbiota results in abberant placental development in mice - these data show gene expression changes in E14.5 placental labyrinth samples from microbiota-depleted dams and controls.
Project description:A rapid ex vivo microbiome assay and metaproteomics approach was used for rapid evaluation of the cultivability of bio-banked live microbiota, which shows minimal detrimental influences of long-term freezing in deoxygenated glycerol buffer on the cultivability of fecal microbiota.
Project description:We performed single cell RNAseq of liver cells in acute liver failure model in mice with different microbiome states to unravel cellular changes in the disease and the impact of gut microbiota on the physiology in this disease.
Project description:Persistent mucosal inflammation and microbial infection are characteristic of Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS). Though mucosal microbiota dysbiosis is a characteristic feature of other chronic inflammatory diseases, the relationship between sinus microbiota composition and CRS is unknown. Here we demonstrate, using comparative microbiome profiling of a cohort of CRS patients and healthy subjects, that the sinus microbiota of CRS patients exhibit significantly reduced bacterial diversity. Characteristic of this community collapse is the depletion of multiple, phylogenetically distinct, Lactic Acid Bacteria and the concomitant increase in relative abundance of a single species, Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum. Recapitulating the conditions observed in our human cohort in a murine model confirmed the pathogenic potential of C. tuberculostearicum and the critical necessity for a replete mucosal microbiota to protect against this species. Moreover, we provide evidence that Lactobacillus sakei, identified from our comparative microbiome analyses as a potentially protective species, affords defense against C. tuberculostearicum sinus infection, even in the context of a depleted sinus bacterial community. These studies demonstrate that sinus mucosal health is highly dependent on the composition of the resident microbiota, and identifies a new sino-pathogen and a strong bacterial candidate for therapeutic intervention.