Enhancing nutritional niche and host defenses by modifying the gut microbiome

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Host-microbiome interactions
• Synthetic biology

Background:

• The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in host nutrition and metabolism.
• Novel model systems are required to investigate the impact of microbiome metabolic capacity on host health.
• Understanding how to engineer microbiomes could lead to new therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a model system for studying microbiome-conferred metabolic functions.
• To investigate the ability of engineered gut bacteria to provide new nutritional capabilities to a host.
• To explore the potential of engineered microbiomes for enhancing host defense against pathogens.

Main Methods:

• Colonization of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans gut with cellulolytic bacteria.
• Utilizing engineered bacterial communities to enable cellulose digestion in C. elegans.
• Employing Lactobacillus plantarum to confer resistance against Salmonella enterica infection in C. elegans.

Main Results:

• Engineered gut bacteria enabled C. elegans to utilize cellulose as a carbon source.
• Cellulolytic bacteria supported other bacterial species, demonstrating community assembly in the engineered gut.
• Lactobacillus plantarum conferred protection to C. elegans against Salmonella enterica infection.

Conclusions:

• Engineered microbiome communities can bestow novel functions upon host organisms.
• The ability to utilize alternative nutrient sources can be conferred via microbiome engineering.
• Microbiome engineering can enhance host resistance to pathogenic bacterial infections.