Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Nat Commun. 2020 May 22;11(1):2577. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16431-1.
The gut microbiome consists of a multi-kingdom microbial community. Whilst the role of bacteria as causal contributors governing host physiological development is well established, the role of fungi remains to be determined. Here, we use germ-free mice colonized with defined species of bacteria, fungi, or both to differentiate the causal role of fungi on microbiome assembly, immune development, susceptibility to colitis, and airway inflammation. Fungal colonization promotes major shifts in bacterial microbiome ecology, and has an independent effect on innate and adaptive immune development in young mice. While exclusive fungal colonization is insufficient to elicit overt dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis, bacterial and fungal co-colonization increase colonic inflammation. Ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation reveals that bacterial, but not fungal colonization is necessary to decrease airway inflammation, yet fungi selectively promotes macrophage infiltration in the airway. Together, our findings demonstrate a causal role for fungi in microbial ecology and host immune functionality, and therefore prompt the inclusion of fungi in therapeutic approaches aimed at modulating early life microbiomes.
肠道微生物组由一个多王国微生物群落组成。虽然细菌作为影响宿主生理发育的因果贡献者的作用已经得到充分证实，但真菌的作用仍有待确定。在这里，我们使用定植有特定种类细菌、真菌或两者的无菌小鼠来区分真菌对微生物组组装、免疫发育、结肠炎易感性和气道炎症的因果作用。真菌定植促进了细菌微生物组生态学的重大转变，并对幼鼠固有和适应性免疫发育有独立的影响。虽然单独的真菌定植不足以引发明显的葡聚糖硫酸钠诱导的结肠炎，但细菌和真菌的共同定植会增加结肠炎症。卵清蛋白诱导的气道炎症表明，细菌定植而非真菌定植是减少气道炎症所必需的，但真菌选择性促进气道中巨噬细胞的浸润。总之，我们的研究结果表明真菌在微生物生态学和宿主免疫功能方面起着因果作用，因此促使人们在旨在调节早期生命微生物组的治疗方法中纳入真菌。
