Shikuma Nicholas J
Department of Biology and Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA.
mSystems. 2021 Aug 31:e0075421. doi: 10.1128/mSystems.00754-21.
Recent research on host-microbe interactions has focused on intimate symbioses. Yet transient interactions, such as the stimulation of animal metamorphosis by bacteria, can have significant impacts on each partner. During these short-lived interactions, swimming animal larvae identify a desirable location on the seafloor and undergo metamorphosis into a juvenile based on the presence of specific bottom-dwelling bacteria. While this phenomenon is critical for seeding new animals to establish or maintain benthic ecosystems, there is an ocean of fundamental questions that remain unanswered. Here, I propose an updated model of how bacteria stimulate animal metamorphosis based on evidence that bacteria inject a stimulatory protein that prompts tubeworm metamorphosis. I consider what we hope to learn about stimulatory bacterial products, how animals recognize these products, and the consequences for both partners. Finally, I provide examples of how studying an enigmatic host-microbe interaction can serve as an engine for scientific discovery.
近期关于宿主-微生物相互作用的研究主要集中在亲密共生关系上。然而，短暂的相互作用，比如细菌刺激动物变态，可能会对双方产生重大影响。在这些短暂的相互作用过程中，游动的动物幼虫会根据特定底栖细菌的存在，识别出海底的适宜位置并变态成为幼体。虽然这一现象对于新动物的定居以建立或维持底栖生态系统至关重要，但仍有大量基本问题悬而未决。在此，我基于细菌注入一种刺激蛋白促使管虫变态的证据，提出了一个关于细菌如何刺激动物变态的更新模型。我思考了我们希望了解的关于刺激性细菌产物的信息、动物如何识别这些产物以及对双方的影响。最后，我举例说明了研究一种神秘的宿主-微生物相互作用如何能够成为科学发现的动力。
