Macrocolony of two E. coli strains that either produce or scavange AI-2OZ OZKAYA, INSTITUTO GULBENKIAN DE CIENCIAA bacterial signaling molecule can alter the composition of the gut microbiome in mice, according to the results of a study published today (March 19) in Cell Reports. Researchers from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC) in Oeiras, Portugal, have shown that boosting the levels of a quorum-sensing molecule in the intestines of mice treated with a gut microbe-depleting antibiotic results in the repopulation of beneficial bacterial species.
This quorum-sensing molecule, made and sensed by some microbes, is used by individual bacterium to sense the presence of other bacteria in their environment. The IGC team’s results point to a potential way to manipulate this molecule, called pan-species autoinducer-2 (AI-2), to promote healthy gut microbiota following diet- and disease-related perturbations.
“While the vast majority of studies on the microbiome identify different bacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract, what is different and important about [this] approach . . . is in trying to manipulate the signaling in the GI tract,” said William Bentley, a bioengineer at the University of Maryland.
“It’s a proof of principle that we can increase the fitness of specific microbial groups in the gut,” said Marvin Whiteley, a microbiologist at the ...
