Innate Immune Gene Expression in Immunocompromised Versus Immunocompetent Zebrafish
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Date
2016-06
Authors
Agarwal, Meghna
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Many bacteria live commensally in the intestines of complex host organisms.
but the methods by which this community assembles are not fully understood. It is
:i.uspected that two processes, inter-host dispersal and host selection, play a role. Host
selection is thought to be dictated by the immune system; however the role of the
immune system in commensal host-microbe interactions is not well understood. This
experiment examines the aclivily of the innate immune system in the context of interhost
dispersal and bacterial community assembly. To carry out this experiment. WildType
(WT) fish and myd8S-1• fish. which were missing a key protein in the TLR
pathways. were housed at different levels exposure to inter-host dispersal. l found that
the immunocompromised 111yd8ir1• fish had significantly lower levels of TLR-pathway
dependent IL 18 expression, but that activity of TLR-inclependent protein CJ was
unaffected. lmmunocompromiscd fish also demonstrated lower survival rates, and also
developed less when in competition with WT fish for resources in the cohoused
situation. Greater levels of host dispersal also increased the difference in activity level
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between genotypes. These results suggest that innate immune activity is impacted by
inter-host dispersal and by the presence of a commensal bacterial community.
Description
33 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Biochemistry and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Science, Spring 2016.
Keywords
Commensal bacterial-host interactions, Zebrafish, Innate immune system, MyD88, Zoobiology, Ecological theory, Molecular biology