DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Biodiversity and community ecology of the gut microbiota in herbivores with respect to dietary toxins

论文研究：食草动物肠道微生物群的生物多样性和群落生态学与膳食毒素的关系

• 批准号: 1210094
• 负责人: Maria Denise Dearing
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-15 至 2014-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1210094&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Biodiversity; community; ecology

Some of the most important interactions that facilitate mammalian life are between mammals and the diverse communities of microbes that reside within their digestive tracts. Mammalian herbivores in particular exhibit the most diverse gut microbial communities, which are thought to conduct fiber fermentation and other nutritional processes to benefit the host. However, in addition to fiber, plants also produce plant secondary compounds that act as anti-herbivore defenses. It has long been proposed that mammalian herbivores might also house microbes that detoxify these toxic compounds. This proposal aims to advance our knowledge of the microbes that live within the guts of a group of herbivorous rodents: woodrats. Woodrats hold tremendous promise for understanding diversity and for discovery of novel detoxifying microbes and genes, as they feed on a variety of plants containing toxins that likely have shaped gut microbial diversity. Indeed, microbes do allow woodrats to consume plant toxins, and the consumption of these toxins strongly changes their gut microbial communities. The central objective of the proposed research is to understand the biodiversity and community ecology of the gut microbiota in herbivores with respect to dietary toxins. The research will specifically investigate how evolutionary history and exposure to dietary toxins influence the community genetics of foregut microbes in a wild herbivore, and how dietary toxins might alter resident gut microbial communities and allow for invasion by a novel community. This project will support the training of a graduate student in the emerging field of microbial metagenomics. In addition, high school and undergraduate students will be involved in the research and receive mentoring in the conduct of independent research. This project will support the development of an inquiry-based lecture geared towards the public, which will be presented at local schools and museums. Results from this research will identify important microbial genes associated with the detoxification of plant toxins, which could be useful in agricultural systems, especially in developing areas where livestock often need to feed on plants containing such toxins.

促进哺乳动物生活的一些最重要的相互作用发生在哺乳动物与其消化道内的各种微生物群落之间。哺乳动物草食动物尤其表现出最多样化的肠道微生物群落，它们被认为进行纤维发酵和其他营养过程，使宿主受益。然而，除了纤维，植物还产生植物次生化合物，作为抗食草动物的防御。长期以来，人们一直认为食草哺乳动物也可能拥有能够解毒这些有毒化合物的微生物。这一建议旨在提高我们对生活在一组草食性啮齿动物——木鼠肠道内的微生物的认识。木鼠对理解多样性和发现新的解毒微生物和基因有着巨大的希望，因为它们以各种含有毒素的植物为食，这些毒素可能塑造了肠道微生物的多样性。事实上，微生物确实允许木鼠消耗植物毒素，这些毒素的消耗强烈地改变了它们的肠道微生物群落。拟议研究的中心目标是了解草食动物肠道微生物群的生物多样性和群落生态学与饮食毒素的关系。该研究将专门研究进化历史和暴露于饮食毒素如何影响野生草食动物前肠微生物的群落遗传学，以及饮食毒素如何改变肠道微生物群落并允许新群落入侵。该项目将支持培养一名微生物宏基因组学新兴领域的研究生。此外，高中生和本科生将参与研究，并在进行独立研究时接受指导。该项目将支持面向公众的以探究为基础的讲座的发展，该讲座将在当地学校和博物馆展出。这项研究的结果将确定与植物毒素解毒有关的重要微生物基因，这可能对农业系统有用，特别是在发展中地区，那里的牲畜经常需要以含有这种毒素的植物为食。