In the last 3 decades, there has been a growing appreciation for the role of gut bacteria in gastrointestinal disease. Although inflammatory bowel disease and peptic ulcer disease have established a role for gut bacteria for more than 20 years, there is now increasing evidence that intestinal bacteria may play a role in irritable bowel syndrome as well. In this review, the current evidence for ...

gut microbiota is formed by ten of trillions of microorganisms with at least 1000 different species of known bacteria. one - third of an individual gut microbiota is common to most people, while two - thirds are specific to him. growing amount of evidence indicates that gut microbiota characteristics may play an important role in mental dysfunctions. molecular mimicry between several key neurop...

The mosquito midgut is a hostile environment that vector-borne parasites must survive to be transmitted. Commensal bacteria in the midgut can reduce the ability of mosquitoes to transmit disease, either by having direct anti-parasite effects or by stimulating basal immune responses of the insect host. As different bacteria have different effects on parasite development, the composition of the b...

It is now widely understood that all animals engage in complex interactions with bacteria (or microbes) throughout their various life stages. This ancient exchange can involve cooperation and has resulted in a wide range of evolved host-microbial interdependencies, including those observed in the gut. Ciona intestinalis, a filter-feeding basal chordate and classic developmental model that can b...

Oral delivery is the most common and preferred route of drug administration although the digestive tract exhibits several obstacles to drug delivery including motility and intraluminal pH profiles. The gut milieu represents the largest mucosal surface exposed to microorganisms with 10(10-12) colony forming bacteria/g of colonic content. Approximately, one third of fecal dry matter is made of ba...

Protochordate variable region-containing chitin-binding proteins (VCBPs) consist of immunoglobulin-type V domains and a chitin-binding domain (CBD). VCBP V domains facilitate phagocytosis of bacteria by granulocytic amoebocytes; the function of the CBD is not understood. Here we show that the gut mucosa of Ciona intestinalis contains an extensive matrix of chitin fibrils to which VCBPs bind ear...

The draft genome of Citrobacter sp. CtB7.12, isolated from termite gut, is presented here. This organism has been reported as a cellulolytic bacterium, which is biotechnologically important because it can be used as a gene donor for the ethanol and biofuel industries.

All metazoan guts are subjected to immunologically unique conditions in which an efficient antimicrobial system operates to eliminate pathogens while tolerating symbiotic commensal microbiota. However, the molecular mechanisms controlling this process are only partially understood. Here, we show that bacterial-derived uracil acts as a ligand for dual oxidase (DUOX)-dependent reactive oxygen spe...

A priority in gut microbiome research is to develop methods to investigate ecological processes shaping microbial populations in the host from readily accessible data, such as fecal samples. Here, we demonstrate that these processes can be inferred from the proportion of ingested microorganisms that is egested and their egestion time distribution, by using general mathematical models that link ...