Manipulation of host and parasite microbiotas: Survival strategies during chronic nematode infection.

Intestinal dwelling parasites have evolved closely with the complex intestinal microbiota of their host, but the significance of the host microbiota for metazoan pathogens and the role of their own intestinal microbiota are still not fully known. We have found that the parasitic nematode acquired a distinct intestinal microbiota from its host, which was required for nematode fitness. Infection of germ-free mice and mice monocolonized with demonstrated that successful infections require a host microbiota.

Detecting macroecological patterns in bacterial communities across independent studies of global soils.

The emergence of high-throughput DNA sequencing methods provides unprecedented opportunities to further unravel bacterial biodiversity and its worldwide role from human health to ecosystem functioning. However, despite the abundance of sequencing studies, combining data from multiple individual studies to address macroecological questions of bacterial diversity remains methodically challenging and plagued with biases. Here, using a machine-learning approach that accounts for differences among studies and complex interactions among taxa, we merge 30 independent bacterial data sets comprising 1,998 soil samples from 21 countries.

Brain injury induces specific changes in the caecal microbiota of mice via altered autonomic activity and mucoprotein production.

Intestinal microbiota are critical for health with changes associated with diverse human diseases. Research suggests that altered intestinal microbiota can profoundly affect brain function. However, whether altering brain function directly affects the microbiota is unknown.