Erwinia Virulence Factor (Evf) has been identified in Erwinia carotovora carotovora 15 (Ecc15) as a virulence factor that promotes colonization of the Drosophila larval gut and provokes the triggering of a systemic immune response. Here we have analysed how Evf promotes persistence and colonization of bacteria inside the larval gut. Erwinia evf mutants do not persist in immune-deficient Drosoph...

The animal gut has co-evolved with the microbes and parasites leading to an increased tolerance to their existence therein. Their peaceful co-existence has been a subject of research in the recent years to decipher their probabilities in multidimensional applications ranging from eradicating the helminths without affecting gut homeostasis or using helminths as therapeutics. Negligence in any on...

There is increasing evidence of the far-reaching effects of gut bacteria on physiological and behavioural traits, yet the fitness-related consequences of changes in the gut bacteria composition of sexually interacting individuals remain unknown. To address this question, we manipulated the gut microbiota of fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, by monoinfecting flies with either Acetobacter pom...

The onset of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been associated with treatment with wide-spectrum antibiotics. Antibiotic treatment alters the activity of gut commensals and may result in modified patterns of immune responses to pathogens. To study these mechanisms during CDI, we separated bacteria with high cellular RNA content (the active bacteria) and their inactive counterparts by fl...

The intestine is an extremely complex living system that participates in the protection of the host through a strong defense against aggressions from the external environment. This defensive task is based on 3 constituents that are in permanent contact and dialog with each other: the microflora, mucosal barrier, and local immune system. We review herein current knowledge about these important f...

Disruptions in gut microbiota composition and function are increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The functional output of the gut microbiota, including short-chain fatty acids and amino acids, are thought to be important modulators underlying the development of these disorders. Gut bacteria can alter the bioavailability of amin...

The gut bacterial community of a bark beetle, the pine engraver Ips pini (Say), was characterized using culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Bacteria from individual guts of larvae, pupae and adults were cultured and DNA was extracted from samples of pooled larval guts. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences amplified directly from the gut community suggests that the gut bacterial co...

Since its introduction from North America, Dendroctonus valens LeConte has become a destructive forest pest in China. Although gut aerobic bacteria have been investigated and some are implicated in beetle pheromone production, little is known about the abundance and significance of facultative anaerobic bacteria in beetle gut, especially with regards to effects of oxygen on their role in pherom...

The primary functions of the gut are to absorb nutrients and exclude bacteria and their products. However, under certain circumstances the gut may lose its barrier function and serve as a reservoir for systemic microbial infections. These experiments were performed to determine the mechanisms whereby endotoxin causes bacteria to escape (translocate) from the gut. Bacteria translocated from the ...

Since their discovery in the early 90s, microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs, have mainly been associated with posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression on a cell-autonomous level. Recent evidence has extended this role by adding inter-species communication to the manifold functional range. In our latest study [Liu S, et al., 2016, Cell Host & Microbe], we identified miRNAs in gut ...