Life Sciences Commons^™

The Gut-Brain Axis And The Apparent Links To Autism Spectrum Disorders, Macgregor Thomas

Research Symposium

In recent years, researchers have pushed the boundaries of understanding of the human microbiome. Studies have pointed towards the involvement of gut bacteria in human health for decades, but now scientists have begun to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the symbiotic relationship that bacteria have with their hosts. Research shows that gut bacteria can influence an organism's neural and immune system development, behavior, mood, and even neurotransmitter concentrations. Like other systems in the human body, a delicate balance of homeostasis, acting through bidirectional communication between the central nervous system and the gut, keeps this system in check. Studies show …

Differences In The Genital Microbiota In Women Who Naturally Clear Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection Compared To Women Who Do Not Clear; A Pilot Study, Patricia Dehon Mott, Christopher M. Taylor, Rebecca A. Lillis, Caleb M. Ardizzone, Hannah L. Albritton, Meng Luo, Kaitlyn G. Calabresi, David H. Martin, Leann Myers, Alison J. Quayle

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

In vitro studies indicate IFNγ is central to Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) eradication, but its function may be compromised by anaerobes typically associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), a frequent co-morbidity in women with Ct. Here we investigated the associations between natural clearance of cervical Ct infection, the vaginal microbiome, and the requirements for IFNγ by evaluating the vaginal microbial and cytokine composition of Ct treatment visit samples from women who cleared Ct infection in the interim between their Ct screening and Ct treatment visit. The pilot cohort was young, predominantly African American, and characterized by a high rate of BV that …

The Gut Microbiome, Lucy Patterson

Osmosis Magazine

The gut microbiome is characterized as living microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses, and genetic material found within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. These microorganisms aid in the digestion and absorption of nutrients in food, and play an active role in the digestive process. However, recent evidence suggests that the gut microbiome is not only helpful in the digestion of food, but also could be linked to mental health and personality.

Evaluating The Effect Of Glyphosate On Host Survival And Microbiome, Sandro Cloiseau

Honors Scholar Theses

Glyphosate (N-(Phosphonomethyl) glycine) is the active ingredient in Round-Up Inc. Commonly known as a weed killer, glyphosate targets the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3- phosphate synthase (EPSPS) in the shikimate pathway. Ultimately, glyphosate selectively induces toxicity, targeting EPSPS present in plants and selected microorganisms. Therefore, glyphosate is anticipated to be harmless to animals and humans. Our laboratory studies Drosophila melanogaster - also known as the fruit fly, in an interest to understand its gut microbiota and immune system. The comparable immune response of the model organism is similar to honey bees, fungi, and humans. To understand the effect of glyphosate on host physiology, …

Microbial Community Field Surveys Reveal Abundant Pseudomonas Population In Sorghum Rhizosphere Composed Of Many Closely Related Phylotypes, Dawn Chiniquy, Elle M. Barnes, Jinglie Zhou, Kyle Hartman, Xiaohui Li, Amy Sheflin, Ellen Marsh, Jessica Prenni, Adam M. Deutschbauer, Daniel P. Schachtman, Susannah G. Tringe

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

While the root-associated microbiome is typically less diverse than the surrounding soil due to both plant selection and microbial competition for plant derived resources, it typically retains considerable complexity, harboring many hundreds of distinct bacterial species. Here, we report a time-dependent deviation from this trend in the rhizospheres of field grown sorghum. In this study, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to determine the impact of nitrogen fertilization on the development of the root-associated microbiomes of 10 sorghum genotypes grown in eastern Nebraska. We observed that early rhizosphere samples exhibit a significant reduction in overall diversity due to a high …

The Role Of Glutamine In Supporting Gut Health And Neuropsychiatric Factors, Brett J. Deters, Mir Saleem

Biology Faculty Articles

Recent research has shown that the amino acid glutamine can positively affect gut health by supporting the gut microbiome, gut mucosal wall integrity, and by modulating inflammatory responses. As modulated by the vagus nerve, via the enteric nervous system, the gut-brain connection can impact the brain's neurochemical environment. Poor gut health can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters, which can result in neuropsychiatric based conditions such as depression. Glutamine supplementation may provide significant adjunctive nutritional support in cases of depression by promoting proper gut health and function.

Microbial Functional Responses In Marine Biofilms Exposed To Deepwater Horizon Spill Contaminants, Rachel L. Mugge, Jennifer L. Salerno, Leila J. Hamdan

Faculty Publications

Marine biofilms are essential biological components that transform built structures into artificial reefs. Anthropogenic contaminants released into the marine environment, such as crude oil and chemical dispersant from an oil spill, may disrupt the diversity and function of these foundational biofilms. To investigate the response of marine biofilm microbiomes from distinct environments to contaminants and to address microbial functional response, biofilm metagenomes were analyzed from two short-term microcosms, one using surface seawater (SSW) and the other using deep seawater (DSW). Following exposure to crude oil, chemical dispersant, and dispersed oil, taxonomically distinct communities were observed between microcosms from different source …

Sensitivity Of Wild-Type And Rifampicin-Resistant O157 And Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli To Elevated Hydrostatic Pressure And Lactic Acid In Ground Meat And Meat Homogenate, Abimbola Allison, Aliyar Cyrus Fouladkhah

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Various serogroups of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli have been epidemiologically associated with foodborne disease episodes in the United States and around the globe, with E. coli O157: H7 as the dominant serogroup of public health concern. Serogroups other than O157 are currently associated with about 60% of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli related foodborne illness episodes. Current study evaluated sensitivity of the O157 and epidemiologically important non-O157 serogroups of the pathogen to elevated hydrostatic pressure and 1% lactic acid. Pressure intensity of 250 to 650 MPa were applied for 0 to 7 min for inactivation of strain mixtures of …

Microbiome Analyses Demonstrate Specific Communities Within Five Shark Species, Rachael Storo, Cole Easson, Mahmood S. Shivji, Jose V. Lopez

Biology Faculty Articles

Profiles of symbiotic microbial communities (“microbiomes”) can provide insight into the natural history and ecology of their hosts. Using high throughput DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 region, microbiomes of five shark species in South Florida (nurse, lemon, sandbar, Caribbean reef, and tiger) have been characterized for the first time. The microbiomes show species specific microbiome composition, distinct from surrounding seawater. Shark anatomical location (gills, teeth, skin, cloaca) affected the diversity of microbiomes. An in-depth analysis of teeth communities revealed species specific microbial communities. For example, the genus Haemophilus, explained 7.0% of the differences of the teeth microbiomes …

Understand And Predict Microbiome And Resistome Dynamics In Response To Perturbations Across Diverse Populations And Environments, Manish Boolchandani

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Complex microbial communities are at the interface of human, animal and environment interconnected ecosystem, where they can move within and between these entities. These microbial communities are mostly beneficial, maintaining the host health and homeostatic state. However, these communities can also serve as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes that may disseminate to pathogen bacteria, compromising the treatment options. Like other microbial communities, human gut microbiome is highly dynamic and can get acutely perturbed with the changes in the habitat, diet, lifestyle and disease. A perturbed gut community structure has profound impact on the host health and physiology. Use of …

Temporal Dynamics Of Chronic Inflammation On The Cecal Microbiota In Il-10-/- Mice, Anne-Marie C. Overstreet, Amanda Ramer-Tait, Jan S. Suchodolski, Jesse M. Hostetter, Chong Wang, Albert E. Jergens, Gregory J. Phillips, Michael J. Wannemeuhler

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The intestinal microbiota is a critical component of mucosal health as evidenced by the fact that alterations in the taxonomic composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota are associated with inflammatory bowel diseases. To better understand how the progression of inflammation impacts the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota, we used culture independent taxonomic profiling to identify temporal changes in the cecal microbiota of C3Bir IL-10-/- mice concomitantly with the onset and progression of colitis. This analysis revealed that IL-10-/- mice displayed a biphasic progression in disease severity, as evidenced by histopathological scores and cytokine production. Beginning at 4 weeks of age, pro-inflammatory …

Targeted Manipulation Of Abundant And Rare Taxa In The Daphnia Magna Microbiota With Antibiotics Impacts Host Fitness Differentially, Reilly O. Cooper, Janna M. Vavra, Clayton E. Cressler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Host-associated microbes contribute to host fitness, but it is unclear whether these contributions are from rare keystone taxa, numerically abundant taxa, or interactions among community members. Experimental perturbation of the microbiota can highlight functionally important taxa; however, this approach is primarily applied in systems with complex communities where the perturbation affects hundreds of taxa, making it difficult to pinpoint contributions of key community members. Here, we use the ecological model organism Daphnia magna to examine the importance of rare and abundant taxa by perturbing its relatively simple microbiota with targeted antibiotics. We used sublethal antibiotic doses to target either rare …

Microbiome Integrity Of Unprocessed Canis Familiaris Stool Samples Prior To Storage For Fecal Microbiota Transplants, Biyar Ahmed

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) are used for patients with dysbiosis of their gut microbiome or with endogenous pathogens. While FMTs are promising, it has become apparent that the gut microbiome varies between individuals and in the same individuals with diet and age. Therefore, it is difficult to establish a microbiome baseline and assess the compatibility of donor stool since the gut microbiome contains numerous bacteria that facilitate metabolic processes as well as prevent the growth of exogenous pathogens. A recent approach to address this issue is the storage of an individual’s stool samples for later. This storage would prove useful …

Microbiome Community And Parasitic Infections In Wild Bees, Mark G. Young

Honors Theses

The microbiome is increasingly recognized for its complex relationship with host fitness. Akin to primates and other social animals, bumblebees harbor a specific microbiome derived from social contact. The bumblebee microbiome is characteristically species poor, with just a few “core” phylotypes accounting for the majority of total abundance. Genomic analyses reveal phylogenetic congruence and adaptation of the core endosymbionts to the bumblebee gut, indicating a shared evolutionary history. Prior investigations reveal that the relative abundance of core microbes is negatively associated with infection by a trypanosome, Crithidia bombi, and that the microbiome has a mechanistic role in immunity. As …

Exploring Microbiome Functional Dynamics Through Space And Time With Trait-Based Theory, Leonora S. Bittleston, Zachary B. Freedman, Jessica R. Bernardin, Jacob J. Grothjan, Erica B. Young, Sydne Record, Benjamin Baiser, Sarah M. Gray

Biology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Microbiomes play essential roles in the health and function of animal and plant hosts and drive nutrient cycling across ecosystems. Integrating novel trait-based approaches with ecological theory can facilitate the prediction of microbial functional traits important for ecosystem functioning and health. In particular, the yield-acquisition-stress (Y-A-S) framework considers dominant microbial life history strategies across gradients of resource availability and stress. However, microbiomes are dynamic, and spatial and temporal shifts in taxonomic and trait composition can affect ecosystem functions. We posit that extending the Y-A-S framework to microbiomes during succession and across biogeographic gradients can lead to generalizable rules for how …

Differential Patterns Of Microbiota Recovery In Symbiotic And Aposymbiotic Corals Following Antibiotic Disturbance, Shavonna M. Bent, Carolyn A. Miller, Koty H. Sharp, Colleen M. Hansel, Amy Apprill

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Microbial relationships are critical to coral health, and changes in microbiomes are often exhibited following environmental disturbance. However, the dynamics of coral-microbial composition and external factors that govern coral microbiome assembly and response to disturbance remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we investigated how antibiotic-induced disturbance affects the coral mucus microbiota in the facultatively symbiotic temperate coral Astrangia poculata, which occurs naturally with high (symbiotic) or low (aposymbiotic) densities of the endosymbiotic dinoflagellate Breviolum psygmophilum. We also explored how differences in the mucus microbiome of natural and disturbed A. poculata colonies affected levels of extracellular superoxide, a reactive oxygen species thought to …

Characterization Of Clostridium Cochlearium As A Potential Probiotic For Obesity Management, Paba Edirisuriya

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACTCHARACTERIZATION OF CLOSTRIDIUM COCHLEARIUM AS A POTENTIAL PROBIOTIC FOR OBESITY MANAGEMENT

ByPABA EDIRISURIYA MAY 2021 Advisor: Dr. Kequan Zhou Major: Nutrition and food science Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Emerging evidence indicates that manipulation of gut microflora is a potential therapeutic approach for managing obesity. Probiotic effects on host weight reduction have repeatedly been revealed through previous studies. Clostridium cochlearium is a butyrate-producing, spore-forming bacteria that have been reported to present in the mammalian gut. Our simulated Invitro digestion model revealed that C. cochlearium could survive in the unfavorable conditions of the human gastrointestinal tract, including low pH (pH2), high bile …

The Effects Of Saline Soil On Microbiome And The Isolation Of Root-Associated Microbes To Relieve Salinity Stress, Duncan Jakubowski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing levels of salinity in once-viable lands for crop production is a serious and growing problem in the Northern Great Plains. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of saline soil on the microbial composition of plant roots and bulk soil, to measure metabolic changes in plant roots from saline soil, to determine the viability of root-associated microbes as inoculants to increase stress tolerance in plants, as well as determine the impact of saline soil on nitrogen cycling genes linked to greenhouse gas production. This study hypothesizes that high soil salinity levels have a significant impact on …

Describing The Gut Microbiome Of Amblema Plicata, Lauren Lawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Freshwater mussels are important for nutrient cycling and ecosystem health, as they filter feed on their surrounding water column. This form of feeding makes these bivalves especially sensitive to conditions in their environment. Gut microbial communities (microbiomes) have been recognized as important to both host organism and ecosystem health; however, how microbiomes are organized and influenced is still unclear. In this study, the gut microbiomes of 58 individuals of the freshwater mussel Amblema plicata were compared across two river basins, five rivers, and nine sites in the southeastern USA. Planctomycetes, Firmicutes, and Cyanobacteria were the most common phyla within all …

Fecal Sample Collection Methods And Time Of Day Impact Microbiome Composition And Short Chain Fatty Acid Concentrations, Jacquelyn Jones, Stacey N. Reinke, Alishum Ali, Debra J. Palmer, Claus T. Christophersen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Associations between the human gut microbiome and health outcomes continues to be of great interest, although fecal sample collection methods which impact microbiome studies are sometimes neglected. Here, we expand on previous work in sample optimization, to promote high quality microbiome data. To compare fecal sample collection methods, amplicons from the bacterial 16S rRNA gene (V4) and fungal (ITS2) region, as well as short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations were determined in fecal material over three timepoints. We demonstrated that spot sampling of stool results in variable detection of some microbial members, and inconsistent levels of SCFA; therefore, sample homogenization …

Roles Of Non-Frankia Bacteria In Root Nodule Formation And Function In Alnus Sp., Kelsey Christine Mercurio

Honors Theses and Capstones

Plant roots are home to a wide variety of beneficial microbes; understanding and optimizing plant-microbe interactions may be critical to enhance global food security in a sustainable, equitable way. With the help of their nitrogen-fixing bacterial partner, Frankia, actinorhizal plants form symbiotic root nodules and play important roles in agroforestry and land reclamation. However, Frankia does not live alone in nodules, and the other microbial residents may contribute to nodule formation and function. We collected root nodules from alder trees (Alnus sp.) in 2018 and 2019, then isolated DNA and individual bacterial strains to characterize the nodule microbial …

Investigating The Development Of Fecal Bacterial Communities In Growing Dairy Calves, Emily Fowler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The gut development of young calves is crucial for the producer and the calf's future. Many factors can affect the development of a young calf's gastrointestinal system, and there has been little research into the fecal microbiome development of calves from 0 to 12 weeks of age. To gain further insight into this process, development of the fecal microbiome in 12 dairy calves was investigated. Fecal bacterial composition was determined at four time points (weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12) using the 16S rRNA gene through PCR-amplification of the V1-V3 regions from fecal microbial genomic DNA, followed by Illumina MiSeq …