Manipulation of the Quorum Sensing Signal AI-2 Affects the Antibiotic-Treated Gut Microbiota

Thompson, Jessica Ann; Oliveira, Rita Almeida; Djukovic, Ana; Ubeda, Carles; Xavier, Karina Bivar

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/658

Use this identifier to reference this record.

Name:	Description:	Size:	Format:
1-s2.0-S2211124715002077-main.pdf	artigo principal	2.15 MB	Adobe PDF	Download
mmc1(1).pdf	material suplementar 1	2 MB	Adobe PDF	Download

Send Feedback

Authors

Thompson, Jessica Ann

Oliveira, Rita Almeida

Djukovic, Ana

Ubeda, Carles

Xavier, Karina Bivar

Abstract(s)

The mammalian gut microbiota harbors a diverse ecosystem where hundreds of bacterial species interact with each other and their host. Given that bacteria use signals to communicate and regulate group behaviors (quorum sensing), we asked whether such communication between different commensal species can influence the interactions occurring in this environment. We engineered the enteric bacterium, Escherichia coli, to manipulate the levels of the interspecies quorum sensing signal, autoinducer-2 (AI-2), in the mouse intestine and investigated the effect upon antibiotic-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis. E. coli that increased intestinal AI-2 levels altered the composition of the antibiotic-treated gut microbiota, favoring the expansion of the Firmicutes phylum. This significantly increased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, to oppose the strong effect of the antibiotic, which had almost cleared the Firmicutes. This demonstrates that AI-2 levels influence the abundance of the major phyla of the gut microbiota, the balance of which is known to influence human health.

Keywords

Animals Anti-Bacterial Agents Bacteroidetes Escherichia coli Homoserine Intestines Lactones Male Mice Mice, Inbred C57BL Microbiota Staphylococcaceae Streptomycin Quorum Sensing

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/658

Citation

Jessica Ann Thompson, Rita Almeida Oliveira, Ana Djukovic, Carles Ubeda, Karina Bivar Xavier, Manipulation of the Quorum Sensing Signal AI-2 Affects the Antibiotic-Treated Gut Microbiota, Cell Reports, Volume 10, Issue 11, 24 March 2015, Pages 1861-1871, ISSN 2211-1247, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2015.02.049. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124715002077)