Microbiomes: How a gut bacterium promotes healthier living in a nematode.

A new study finds that a bacterium from the microbiome of the nematode Pristionchus pacificus can promote rapid growth, increased body size, and increased fecundity by inducing neuronal expression of TGF-β ligands. This is an intriguing example of how the microbiota induces systemic effects in the host by stimulating neuroendocrine signaling.