Project description:Saccharibacteria are episymbionts that require host-bacteria to grow. They are positively associated with inflammatory diseases within the human microbiome, yet their mechanisms for interacting with the human host and contributing to inflammatory diseases remain unknown. This study investigated interactions between a Saccharibacterium (Nanosynbacter lyticus), its host-bacteria (Schaalia odontolytica), and oral epithelial cells. The host-bacteria induced proinflammatory cytokines (IL8, GROα, and MCP-1) in epithelial cells, while Saccharibacteria were immune silent. Remarkably, Saccharibacteria dampened cytokine responses to host-bacteria during coinfection. This effect resulted from Saccharibacteria directly interacting with TLR2 receptors via T4P, becoming endocytosed by epithelial cells, and subsequently inhibiting TLR2 activation by the host-bacteria. Super-resolution imaging showed that intracellular Saccharibacteria colocalized with endosome markers, eventually trafficking to lysosomes. Moreover, a subset survives endocytosis, escapes epithelial cells, and reinfects host-bacteria, highlighting a mechanism for persistence in the oral microbiome and a vital role in mammalian immune system modulation.
Project description:The effects of increasing addition of green tea in dietary changes the bacterial populations in broiler ileum were evaluated. Four hundreds of AA broilers were randomly assigned to four groups with green tea addition of 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 percent in the diet. The body weight showed no difference but a digital increase positively correlated with addition of green tea. The content of green tea had a linear effect of lengthening the ileum villi. The barcoded DNA pyrosequencing method was used to reveal 15 phyla, 1157phylotypes and 3098 16S operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The most predominant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes (56.89%), Actinobacteria (30.58%), Proteobacteria (8.61%) and Bacteroidetes (2.72%). As the proportion of additional green tea increased, the abundance of phylum Actinobacteria (p=0.003) and Proteobacteria (p=0.049) almost linearly increased, while the proportion of Firmicutes (p=0.027) linearly decreased. Only 2 OTUs were significantly affected by the increased additive, Corynebacteriaceae (p=0.011) and Staphylococcaceae (p= 0.006). Triplot analysis suggested that the dominant phyla of Verrucomicrobia, TM7 and Actinobacteria were clearly related to the addition of green tea. Moreover, green tea addition influenced the construction of microbiota, and lengthened the villus in ileum by Monte Carlo permutation test. These findings provide a new understanding of the ileal microbial ecology, which may be useful in modulating the gut microbiome, and also the proper usage of powdered green tea.
Project description:Nanosynbacter lyticus type strain TM7x was the first cultivated member of the broadly prevelent, but poorly udnerstood Candidate Phylum Radiation super-phylum. TM7x was shown to be an obligate epibiont with a host range including Schaalia odontolyticus strain XH001. The process of infecting a naive host goes through multiple phases, from an initial binding and interaction phase we call the initial encounter, to a rapid die off of infected host cells, killing phase, followed by regrowth of the host cells, regrowth phase, and finally a stable symbiosis between the species, stable symbiosis.To obtain a better understanding of the process by which these species establish a stable symbiosis, we measured the transcriptome using RNA sequencing across the course of infection. We sampled infected host, XH001/TM7x, during the initial interaction, regrowth, and after attaining stable symbiosis, as well as naive host controls grown under the same culture conditions.
Project description:Saccharibacteria (TM7) are obligate epibionts living on the surface of their host bacteria, and strongly correlated with dysbiotic microbiomes during periodontitis and other inflammatory diseases, suggesting they are putative pathogens. However, due to the recalcitrance of TM7 cultivation, no causal research has been conducted to investigate their role in inflammatory diseases. Here, we isolated multiple TM7 species on their host bacteria from periodontitis patients. These TM7 species reduced inflammation and consequential bone loss by modulating their host bacterial pathogenicity in mouse ligature-induced periodontitis model. Two host bacterial functions involved in collagen binding and utilization of eukaryotic sialic acid were identified as required for inducing bone loss and altered by TM7 association. This down-regulation of host bacterial pathogenicity by TM7 was shown for multiple TM7/host bacteria pairs, suggesting that, in contrast to their suspected pathogenic role, TM7 could protect mammalian hosts from inflammatory damage induced by their host bacteria.