Barbara Pees

Abstract Microsporidia are fungal parasites that can only reproduce inside the cells of a host, and they infect most animal groups, including humans and agriculturally important species. Animals also harbor a microbiome, which can shape resistance to infection, but the mechanisms by which bacteria influence microsporidia infection are poorly understood.

Abstract Protection against pathogens is a major function of the gut microbiota. Although bacterial natural products have emerged as crucial components of host-microbiota interactions, their exact role in microbiota-mediated protection is largely unexplored. We addressed this knowledge gap with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and its microbiota isolate Pseudomonas fluorescens MYb115 that is known to protect against Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) infection.

Abstract The composition of the gut microbiome is determined by a complex interplay of diet, host genetics, microbe-microbe competition, abiotic factors, and stochasticity. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of host genetics in community assembly of the Caenorhabditis elegans gut microbiome and identified a pivotal role for DBL-1/BMP immune signaling in determining the abundance of gut Enterobacteriaceae, in particular of the genus Enterobacter.