Host Selection of Microbiota via Differential Adhesion
Authored by Jonas Schluter, Kevin R Foster, Kirstie McLoughlin, Seth Rakoff-Nahoum, Adrian L Smith
Date Published: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.02.021
Sponsors:
European Research Council (ERC)
Research Councils UK (RCUK)
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
The host epithelium is the critical interface with microbial
communities, but the mechanisms by which the host regulates these
communities are poorly understood. Here we develop the hypothesis that
hosts use differential adhesion to select for and against particular
members of their microbiota. We use an established computational, individual-based model to study the impact of host factors that regulate
adhesion at the epithelial surface. Our simulations predict that
host-mediated adhesion can increase the competitive advantage of
microbes and create ecological refugia for slow-growing species. We show
how positive selection via adhesion can be transformed into negative
selection if the host secretes large quantities of a matrix such as
mucus. Our work predicts that adhesion is a powerful mechanism for both
positive and negative selection within the microbiota. We discuss
molecules-mucus glycans and IgA-that affect microbe adhesion and
identify testable predictions of the adhesion-as-selection model.
Tags
Escherichia-coli
Biofilm formation
Intestinal microbiota
Secretory immunoglobulin-a
Inflammatory-bowel-disease
Gut microbiota
Colonization resistance
Rhizosphere microbiome
Bacterial communities
Helicobacter-pylori