Publication Date:
2008-01-26
Description:
Although commensalism with gut microbiota exists in all metazoans, the host factors that maintain this homeostatic relationship remain largely unknown. We show that the intestinal homeobox gene Caudal regulates the commensal-gut mutualism by repressing nuclear factor kappa B-dependent antimicrobial peptide genes. Inhibition of Caudal expression in flies via RNA interference led to overexpression of antimicrobial peptides, which in turn altered the commensal population within the intestine. In particular, the dominance of one gut microbe, Gluconobacter sp. strain EW707, eventually led to gut cell apoptosis and host mortality. However, restoration of a healthy microbiota community and normal host survival in the Caudal-RNAi flies was achieved by reintroduction of the Caudal gene. These results reveal that a specific genetic deficiency within a host can profoundly influence the gut commensal microbial community and host physiology.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Ryu, Ji-Hwan -- Kim, Sung-Hee -- Lee, Hyo-Young -- Bai, Jin Young -- Nam, Young-Do -- Bae, Jin-Woo -- Lee, Dong Gun -- Shin, Seung Chul -- Ha, Eun-Mi -- Lee, Won-Jae -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2008 Feb 8;319(5864):777-82. doi: 10.1126/science.1149357. Epub 2008 Jan 24.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Division of Molecular Life Science, Ewha Woman's University and National Creative Research Initiative Center for Symbiosystem, Seoul 120-750, South Korea.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18218863" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Acetobacteraceae/growth & development
;
Animals
;
Animals, Genetically Modified
;
Antibiosis
;
Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/biosynthesis/genetics
;
Apoptosis
;
Bacteria/growth & development
;
Drosophila Proteins/*genetics/metabolism/physiology
;
Drosophila melanogaster/genetics/*immunology/metabolism/*microbiology
;
Epithelial Cells/cytology/metabolism
;
Gene Expression Regulation
;
*Genes, Homeobox
;
Genes, Insect
;
Germ-Free Life
;
Gluconobacter/*growth & development/pathogenicity
;
Homeodomain Proteins/*genetics/physiology
;
Homeostasis
;
*Immunity, Innate
;
Intestines/cytology/immunology/metabolism/microbiology
;
RNA Interference
;
Symbiosis
;
Transcription Factors/*genetics/metabolism/physiology
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
