Physiological interactions of Salmonella and the intestinal microbiota

对细菌病原体的保护是多种肠道微生物群赋予其宿主的最重要的共生功能之一。许多本地微生物有效的养分竞争是这种保护作用的生态基础。反过来，肠道生态紊乱，如抗生素治疗，导致营养生态位空缺，为食源性病原体提供定植机会，随后引起炎症，甚至进一步利用肠道中改变的营养可用性。因此，不同微生物群成员和传入病原体之间的底物使用和分配是肠道生态系统中微生物生态位分离的基础，但仍未充分了解。该联合项目旨在详细了解单个微生物群成员与食源性病原体沙门氏菌之间的生理相互作用，并确定保护性微生物。这项研究的发现将通过定义微生物代谢特性和防止定植或促进病原体清除的生理条件，为未来的治疗做出贡献。

Protection against bacterial pathogens is one of the most important symbiotic functions that the diverse intestinal microbiota confers to its host. Efficient nutrient competition of the many indigenous microorganisms is an ecological foundation of this protective effect. In return, disturbances in intestinal ecology, such as by antibiotic therapy, lead to vacant nutritional niches that provide colonization opportunities for foodborne pathogens, which subsequently cause inflammation to even further leverage the altered nutrient availability in the gut. Substrate use and partitioning among the different microbiota members and incoming pathogens is thus fundamental to microbial niche segregation in the intestinal ecosystem, but still insufficiently understood. This joint project aims to provide a detailed understanding of the physiological interactions between individual microbiota members and the foodborne pathogen Salmonella, and to identify protective microorganisms. Findings from this research will contribute to future therapies by defining microbial metabolic properties and physiological conditions that prevent colonization or promote clearance of the pathogen.