Cell Specific Responses to Microbiota Play Global Roles in Host Development & Homeostasis
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Date
2022-05-10
Authors
Massaquoi, Michelle
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Resident microbes are a fixture within all animal life and impact diverse aspects of host biology ranging from metabolism, training of the immune system to identify pathogens but tolerate commensals, and tissue development. An animal host’s microbiota encompasses the consortium of bacteria, fungi, archaebacteria and viruses that live on and within them. Animal intestines harbor the highest density of microbes and across model organisms the microbiota has shown to play important roles in the development of organs both proximal and distant to the digestive system. Although pioneering work has significantly increased our understanding of the intricate dynamics within host-microbe interactions and has fundamentally altered how we define animal biology, the mechanisms behind these interactions and the extent that they influence host tissues globally is largely unknown. This dissertation describes the work that characterizes which cell types of the developing host are responsive to the microbiota in the model vertebrate, the larval zebrafish. This work also investigates the mechanism by which a bacterial-secreted protein induces the proliferation and development of the insulin-producing beta cells in the larval pancreas.
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Keywords
development, microbiota, zebrafish