Molecular characterization of mixed-species bacterial biofilms in the gastrointestinal tract

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The gut microbiota (the community of microbes that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract) plays important roles in human health and disease, but little is known about the basic principles that underlie host-microbial symbiotic interactions in the vertebrate gut. In particular, the interactions between the bacterial members of multi-species intestinal biofilms have not been studied at all, but such knowledge is essential for the development of strategies that modulate the gut microbiota to improve health. Capitalizing on gnotobiotic mice (mice with a defined microbiota), the applicant’s group has developed a unique model by which to disentangle the bacterial functions that contribute to biofilm formation in the gastrointestinal tract. Using this model, we have demonstrated that selective biofilm formation in the mouse stomach as a key mechanism by which host specificity is facilitated in the species Lactobacillus reuteri, and have begun to elucidate the molecular processes that underlie formation of biofilms. However, we know little about how these biofilms function and evolve in the context of the mixed species populations that occur in nature.