Publications by authors named "Katherine D Mueller"

The structure and function of the mammalian gut vary by region, yet why inflammatory diseases manifest in specific regions and not others remains unclear. We use a TNF-overexpressing Crohn's disease (CD) model (Tnf ), which typically presents in the terminal ileum (TI), to investigate how environmental factors interact with the host's immune susceptibility to drive region-specific disease. We identified , an intracellular bacterium and murine counterpart to the human sexually transmitted , as necessary and sufficient to trigger disease manifestation in the ascending colon (AC), another common site of human CD.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzes the genus of mucophilic bacteria in the human gastrointestinal microbiota, finding that larger genomes may impact metabolic and immunological health.
  • Through pangenomic analysis of 234 genomes and reanalysis of metagenomic datasets, the research identifies relationships between specific bacterial species and disease outcomes.
  • Key findings highlight the need to differentiate subspecies and their varying correlations with conditions like obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer treatment outcomes, emphasizing their potential as probiotics.
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The mucophilic anaerobic bacterium is a prominent member of the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota and the only known species of the phylum in the mammalian gut. A high prevalence of in adult humans is associated with leanness and a lower risk for the development of obesity and diabetes. Four distinct phylogenetic groups have been described, but little is known about their relative abundance in humans or how they impact human metabolic health.

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Mucor circinelloides is a pathogenic fungus and etiologic agent of mucormycosis. In 2013, cases of gastrointestinal illness after yogurt consumption were reported to the US FDA, and the producer found that its products were contaminated with Mucor. A previous study found that the Mucor strain isolated from an open contaminated yogurt exhibited virulence in a murine systemic infection model and showed that this strain is capable of surviving passage through the gastrointestinal tract of mice.

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