The commensal protist Tritrichomonas musculus exhibits a dynamic life cycle that induces extensive remodeling of the gut microbiota
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Abstract
Commensal protists and gut bacterial communities exhibit complex relationships, mediated at least in part through host immunity. To improve our understanding of this tripartite interplay, we investigated community and functional dynamics between the murine protist Tritrichomonas musculus ( T. mu ) and intestinal bacteria in healthy and B cell-deficient mice. We identified dramatic, protist-driven remodeling of resident microbiome growth and activities, in parallel with T. mu functional changes, accelerated in the absence of B cells. Metatranscriptomic data revealed nutrient-based competition between bacteria and the protist. Single cell transcriptomics identified distinct T. mu life stages, providing new evidence for trichomonad sexual replication and the formation of pseudocysts. Unique cell states were validated in situ through microscopy and flow cytometry. Our results reveal complex microbial dynamics during the establishment of a commensal protist in the gut, and provide valuable datasets to drive future mechanistic studies.
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impact gut health
Thank you for this elegant study. The text is clearly written and the figures are really nice. Looking forward to reading follow up work from this!
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require high concentrations of iron for growth
Does T.mu possess specific molecules that act like iron chelators (like siderophores?)
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altered gut bacterial composition
We can clearly see on Fig.1d that indeed the proportion of different phyla is altered in the presence of T. mu. I am wondering, if, at the species level, T. mu is affecting what species are present or if T. mu is not really affecting what species are present but mostly affecting their distribution/proportion?
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