Thompson Jessica Ann, Oliveira Rita Almeida, Djukovic Ana, Ubeda Carles, Xavier Karina Bivar
Cell Rep. 2015 Mar 24;10(11):1861-71. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.02.049.
The mammalian gut microbiota harbors a diverse ecosystem where hundreds of bacterial species interact with each other and their host. Given that bacteria use signals to communicate and regulate group behaviors (quorum sensing), we asked whether such communication between different commensal species can influence the interactions occurring in this environment. We engineered the enteric bacterium, Escherichia coli, to manipulate the levels of the interspecies quorum sensing signal, autoinducer-2 (AI-2), in the mouse intestine and investigated the effect upon antibiotic-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis. E. coli that increased intestinal AI-2 levels altered the composition of the antibiotic-treated gut microbiota, favoring the expansion of the Firmicutes phylum. This significantly increased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, to oppose the strong effect of the antibiotic, which had almost cleared the Firmicutes. This demonstrates that AI-2 levels influence the abundance of the major phyla of the gut microbiota, the balance of which is known to influence human health.
哺乳动物的肠道微生物群构成了一个多样化的生态系统，其中数百种细菌相互之间以及与它们的宿主进行互动。鉴于细菌利用信号进行交流并调节群体行为（群体感应），我们不禁要问，不同共生菌之间的这种交流是否会影响在这种环境中发生的相互作用。我们对肠道细菌大肠杆菌进行了改造，以操控小鼠肠道中种间群体感应信号——自诱导物-2（AI-2）的水平，并研究其对抗生素诱导的肠道微生物群失调的影响。提高肠道AI-2水平的大肠杆菌改变了经抗生素处理的肠道微生物群的组成，有利于厚壁菌门的扩张。这显著提高了厚壁菌门与拟杆菌门的比例，以对抗抗生素几乎清除厚壁菌门的强大作用。这表明AI-2水平会影响肠道微生物群主要门类的丰度，而众所周知，这些门类的平衡会影响人类健康。
