Kissoyan, Kohar, Dierking, Katja, Drechsler, Moritz, Peters, Lena, Hamerich, Inga, Bode, Helge
[
International Worm Meeting,
2021]
It has become increasingly clear how important gut bacteria are for the protection of the host against invading pathogens. The underlying mechanisms of microbiota-mediated protection, however, are largely unknown. In recent years C. elegans has been established as a model system to study host-microbiota interactions and microbiota-mediated protective effects against pathogens. Our work focuses on two Pseudomonas natural microbiota isolates, Pseudomonas lurida (MYb11) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (MYb115), which have previously been shown to protect C. elegans from infections with Bacillus thuringiensis (MYBt18247) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14). We are currently characterizing the influence of these microbiota isolates on the lifespan, reproduction, and most importantly, immune defense and aim to understand on how exactly microbiota-mediated protection is induced on both the microbiota and the host side. On the microbiota side, we have identified a biosynthetic gene cluster encoding a type I polyketide synthase (PKS), the resulting natural product induces the protective effect of MYb115 when worms are infected with Bt247. On the host side, we are currently using a reporter gene approach to identify genes and defense pathways involved in the worm response to infection. We will discuss our most recent results at the conference.