A Mutant Microbial Species Alters Interspecies Interactions in the Zebrafish Gut
Loading...
Date
2021
Authors
Kast, Jade
Sundarraman, Deepika
Parthasarathy, Raghuveer
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Gut bacterial communities are important for host development and health. Knowledge of bacterial species interactions will aid in understanding gut community composition and the factors that affect it. Previous work in the larval zebrafish gut has shown that strong competitive interactions between pairs of bacterial species are weakened in a community of five commensal species where higher-order interactions promote species coexistence. This raises the question of whether certain characteristics of the species present can affect higher-order interactions in multispecies communities to disrupt community stability. To address this, I replaced one bacterial species of the genus Aeromonas, which is native to zebrafish, from the previously studied group of five species with a mutant strain that aggregates less than the wild-type strain. Through dissection and plating experiments, I found the mutant Aeromonas has a stronger negative interaction compared to the wild-type Aeromonas in two-species experiments with Enterobacter— another native species. The mutant Aeromonas’ interaction also persisted in the five species community. The results suggest bacterial species characteristics influence higher-order interactions in multispecies communities, therefore influencing gut community composition.
Description
1 page.
Keywords
gut microbiome, interspecies interactions, multispecies community