Gerrick Elias R, Howitt Michael R
Department of Microbiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Trends Microbiol. 2025 Jun;33(6):603-618. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2025.01.008. Epub 2025 Feb 13.
The gut microbiota critically influences many aspects of host biology, from nutrient acquisition to immunological function, and is integral to metazoan life. While most microbiome research has focused on bacteria, the intestinal microbiota encompasses a diverse constellation of microorganisms, including viruses, fungi, archaea, and protists. Among these microbes, commensal protists have been particularly neglected, to the point that their status as true members of the microbiota remained contentious. However, findings over the past decade revealed that commensal protists, particularly those in the Parabasalia phylum (parabasalids), perform keystone roles within the intestinal ecosystem. Emerging evidence highlights how parabasalids dramatically impact host immunity, gut microbiome ecology, and host susceptibility to both infectious and inflammatory diseases. In this review, we discuss the recent discoveries of the varied and powerful roles of commensal parabasalids in the intestinal microbiota and outline the challenges and opportunities in this burgeoning new area of the microbiome field.
肠道微生物群对宿主生物学的许多方面都有着至关重要的影响，从营养获取到免疫功能，并且是后生动物生命不可或缺的一部分。虽然大多数微生物组研究都集中在细菌上，但肠道微生物群包含各种各样的微生物，包括病毒、真菌、古菌和原生生物。在这些微生物中，共生原生生物一直特别被忽视，以至于它们作为微生物群真正成员的地位仍然存在争议。然而，过去十年的研究结果表明，共生原生生物，尤其是那些属于副基总门（parabasalids）的原生生物，在肠道生态系统中发挥着关键作用。新出现的证据突出了副基总门原生生物如何显著影响宿主免疫力、肠道微生物群生态以及宿主对传染病和炎症性疾病的易感性。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了共生副基总门原生生物在肠道微生物群中多样且强大作用的最新发现，并概述了这个微生物组领域新兴新领域中的挑战与机遇。
