Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany.
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States of America.
PLoS Pathog. 2020 Mar 19;16(3):e1008375. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008375. eCollection 2020 Mar.
The extent to which disturbances in the resident microbiota can compromise an animal's health is poorly understood. Hydra is one of the evolutionary oldest animals with naturally occurring tumors. Here, we found a causal relationship between an environmental spirochete (Turneriella spec.) and tumorigenesis in Hydra. Unexpectedly, virulence of this pathogen requires the presence of Pseudomonas spec., a member of Hydra´s beneficial microbiome indicating that dynamic interactions between a resident bacterium and a pathogen cause tumor formation. The observation points to the crucial role of commensal bacteria in maintaining tissue homeostasis and adds support to the view that microbial community interactions are essential for disease. These findings in an organism that shares deep evolutionary connections with all animals have implications for our understanding of cancer.
目前尚不清楚居住微生物群落的紊乱在何种程度上会损害动物的健康。水螅是一种具有天然肿瘤的进化最古老的动物之一。在这里，我们发现了一种环境螺旋体（Turneriella spec.）与水螅肿瘤发生之间的因果关系。出乎意料的是，这种病原体的毒力需要假单胞菌（Pseudomonas spec.）的存在，而假单胞菌是水螅有益微生物组的成员，这表明居住细菌和病原体之间的动态相互作用会导致肿瘤形成。这一观察结果指出了共生细菌在维持组织内稳态中的关键作用，并支持了微生物群落相互作用对疾病至关重要的观点。这些在与所有动物具有深层进化联系的生物体中的发现，对我们理解癌症具有重要意义。
