Mechanisms of adaptation to interbacterial antagonism by the human gut microbiota

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The impact of the gut microbiota on human health depends on the identity of the species therein. The mechanisms that lead to differences in microbiota composition between people is not well understood. We focus on interbacterial interactions between members of the dominant taxon in the gut of Western adults, the order Bacteroidales. These bacteria compete for space and nutrients via a molecular nanoweapon known as the type VI secretion system (T6SS). Toxic protein effectors delivered between adjacent Bacteroidales cells by the T6SS result in cell statis or lysis, and we and others have previously revealed that this competition results in strain-level differences in the microbiota through exclusion of target bacteria via killing. Since effectors can be delivered indiscriminately to kin cells, T6SS-encoding bacteria produce immunity factors that specifically neutralize cognate effectors. We have previously identified the pervasive presence of “orphan” immunity factors encoded within large genomic arrays within Bacteroidales genomes that lack cognate effectors. These acquired interbacterial defense (AID) systems render the T6SS ineffective through neutralization of cognate effectors and facilitate strain- exclusion from microbiomes. In this proposal, we seek to understand the mechanism by which orphan immunity genes are captured aggregated into the most common type of AID system, the recombinase-associated AID (rAID) system, using a powerful combination of bacterial genetics, biochemistry, metagenomics, and gnotobiology. We further seek to understand the regulation and biogeographical role of rAID systems through a hypothesized “competition-sensing” mechanism that involves a hybrid sensor-kinase pathway. Together, we aim to understand the impact of Bacteroidales defense against the T6SS on the gut microbiome.