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Colonization with heterologous bacteria reprograms a Caenorhabditis elegans nutritional phenotype

Qing Sun, Nicole M. Vega, Bernardo Cervantes, Christopher P. Mancuso, Ning Mao, Megan Taylor, James J. Collins, Ahmad S. Khalil, Jeff Gore, Timothy K. Lu
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.01.972349
Qing Sun
1Synthetic Biology Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Nicole M. Vega
2Department of Physics, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
6Biology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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Bernardo Cervantes
3Institute for Medical Engineering & Science and Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Christopher P. Mancuso
4Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
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Ning Mao
3Institute for Medical Engineering & Science and Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
7Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
8Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
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Megan Taylor
6Biology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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James J. Collins
1Synthetic Biology Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
3Institute for Medical Engineering & Science and Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
7Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
8Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
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Ahmad S. Khalil
4Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
8Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115
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Jeff Gore
2Department of Physics, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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  • For correspondence: timlu@mit.edu gore@mit.edu
Timothy K. Lu
1Synthetic Biology Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
9Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
10Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, MA
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  • For correspondence: timlu@mit.edu gore@mit.edu
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Abstract

Animals rely on the gut microbiome to process complex food compounds that the host cannot digest and to synthesize nutrients that the host cannot produce. New systems are needed to study how the expanded metabolic capacity provided by the gut microbiome impacts the nutritional status and health of the host. Here we colonized the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans gut with cellulolytic bacteria that enabled C. elegans to utilize cellulose, an otherwise indigestible substrate, as a carbon source. The nutritional benefits of colonization with cellulolytic bacteria were assayed directly, by incorporation of isotopic biomass, and indirectly, as host larval yield resulting from glucose release in the gut. As a community component in the worm gut, cellulolytic bacteria can also support additional bacterial species with specialized roles, which we demonstrate by using Lactobacillus to protect against Salmonella infection. As a model system, C. elegans colonized with cellulolytic bacteria can be used to study microbiome-host interactions. Engineered microbiome communities may provide host organisms with novel functions, such as the ability to use more complex nutrient sources and to fight against pathogen infections.

One Sentence Summary Heterologous bacteria colonizing an animal gut help digest complex sugars to provide nutrition for the host in a model system.

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Posted March 03, 2020.
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Colonization with heterologous bacteria reprograms a Caenorhabditis elegans nutritional phenotype
Qing Sun, Nicole M. Vega, Bernardo Cervantes, Christopher P. Mancuso, Ning Mao, Megan Taylor, James J. Collins, Ahmad S. Khalil, Jeff Gore, Timothy K. Lu
bioRxiv 2020.03.01.972349; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.01.972349
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Colonization with heterologous bacteria reprograms a Caenorhabditis elegans nutritional phenotype
Qing Sun, Nicole M. Vega, Bernardo Cervantes, Christopher P. Mancuso, Ning Mao, Megan Taylor, James J. Collins, Ahmad S. Khalil, Jeff Gore, Timothy K. Lu
bioRxiv 2020.03.01.972349; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.01.972349

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