Gut-associated microbes of insects are postulated to provide a variety of nutritional functions including provisioning essential amino acids (EAAs). Demonstrations of EAA provisioning in insect-gut microbial systems, nonetheless, are scant. In this study, we investigated whether the eastern subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes sourced EAAs from its gut-associated microbiota. δ (13)CEAA ...

Neil Munro is Visiting Professor in Primary Care Diabetes, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Surrey. The gut microbiota is a community of microogranisms that live in the gut and intestinal tract. The microbiota consists of bacteria, archaea and eukarya, as well as viruses, but is predominantly populated by anaerobic bacteria. Relationships between gut microbiota co...

The gut mucosa acts as a barrier against microbial invaders, whereas resident commensal and foreign invading bacteria interact intimately with the gut epithelium and influence the host cellular and immune systems. The epithelial barrier serves as an infectious foothold for many bacterial pathogens and as an entry port for pathogens to disseminate into deeper tissues. Enteric bacterial pathogens...

2. Generally speaking, isoflavonoids and lignans are ingested largely as glycosides, which undergo hydrolysis, possibly in the stomach, under the action of acid, or in the lower gut, under the action of the gut microflora. The deglycosylated (aglycone) compounds may be further metabolised by the gut bacteria and/or absorbed. Once absorbed, these compounds are rapidly and extensively re-conjugat...

Genetically engineered bacteria have the potential to diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases linked to the gastrointestinal tract, or gut. Such engineered microbes will be less expensive and invasive than current diagnostics and more effective and safe than current therapeutics. Recent advances in synthetic biology have dramatically improved the reliability with which bacteria can be engin...

Symbiotic associations of cellulolytic eukaryotic protists and diverse bacteria are common in the gut microbial communities of termites. Besides cellulose degradation by the gut protists, reductive acetogenesis from H2 plus CO2 and nitrogen fixation by gut bacteria play crucial roles in the host termites' nutrition by contributing to the energy demand of termites and supplying nitrogen poor in ...

Laboratory experiments have revealed many active mechanisms by which bacteria can inhibit the growth of other organisms. Bacteriocins are a diverse group of natural ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides produced by a wide range of bacteria and which seem to play an important role in mediating competition within bacterial communities. In this study, we have identified and established th...

Herbivore associated bacteria are vital mediators of plant and insect interactions. Host plants play an important role in shaping the gut bacterial community of insects. Colorado potato beetles (CPB; Leptinotarsa decemlineata) use several Solanum plants as hosts in their natural environment. We previously showed that symbiotic gut bacteria from CPB larvae suppressed jasmonate (JA)-induced defen...

While changes in gut microbial populations have been described in human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy (ART), the mechanisms underlying the contributions of gut bacteria and their molecular agents (metabolites and proteins) to immune recovery remain unexplored. To study this, we examined the active fraction of the gut microbiome, through examin...

Mucosal tolerance has been considered a potentially important pathway for the treatment of autoimmune disease, including human multiple sclerosis and experimental conditions such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). There is limited information on the capacity of commensal gut bacteria to induce and maintain peripheral immune tolerance. Inbred SJL and C57BL/6 mice were treated or...