Gene Essentiality and Metabolism in Bordetella pertussis.

is the causative agent of whooping cough, a serious respiratory illness affecting children and adults, associated with prolonged cough and potential mortality. Whooping cough has reemerged in recent years, emphasizing a need for increased knowledge of basic mechanisms of growth and pathogenicity. While previous studies have provided insight into gene essentiality of this organism, very little is known about gene essentiality, a critical gap in knowledge, since has no previously identified environmental reservoir and is isolated from human respiratory tract samples.

Inferring Metabolic Mechanisms of Interaction within a Defined Gut Microbiota.

The diversity and number of species present within microbial communities create the potential for a multitude of interspecies metabolic interactions. Here, we develop, apply, and experimentally test a framework for inferring metabolic mechanisms associated with interspecies interactions. We perform pairwise growth and metabolome profiling of co-cultures of strains from a model mouse microbiota.