A comparative approach to decipher intestinal animal-microbe associations
Authors:Keisuke Nakashima1
doi: 10.15698/mic2018.11.658
Volume 5, pp. 522 to 524, published 30/10/2018.
1 Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
Keywords:
gut, microbiota, mucosal immunity, co-evolution, chitin, mucus layer, chordates
Corresponding Author(s):
Conflict of interest statement:
The author declares no conflict of interest.
Please cite this article as:
Keisuke Nakashima (2018). A comparative approach to decipher intestinal animal-microbe associations. Microbial Cell: in press.
© 2018 Nakashima. This is an open-access article released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows the unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are acknowledged.
Abstract:
Mammalian guts harbor indigenous microbes that are integral to host health. Microbiome research using sophisticated model organisms has provided insights into intricate interactions between microbiota and host animals. However, it remains unclear how these animal-microbe associations developed. We have recently addressed this question via comparative analyses of chordates, given that complex biological systems can be resolved into ancestral and derived elements when examined in an evolutionary framework (Nat Commun 9: 3402). Results support the view that microbial colonization of the mucus layer that overlies mammalian gastrointestinal epithelium was established upon loss of ancestral chitin-based barrier immunity. Comparative approaches enable us to arrange ongoing biological processes into host natural history for better understanding of intestinal animal-microbe associations.