Chemical signaling between gut microbiota and host chromatin: What is your gut really saying?

Kimberly A Krautkramer,Federico E Rey,John M Denu

doi:10.1074/jbc.r116.761577

Abstract

Mammals and their gut microbial communities share extensive and tightly coordinated co-metabolism of dietary substrates. A large number of microbial metabolites have been detected in host circulation and tissues and, in many cases, are linked to host metabolic, developmental, and immunological states. The presence of these metabolites in host tissues intersects with regulation of the host's epigenetic machinery. Although it is established that the host's epigenetic machinery is sensitive to levels of endogenous metabolites, the roles for microbial metabolites in epigenetic regulation are just beginning to be elucidated. This review focuses on eukaryotic chromatin regulation by endogenous and gut microbial metabolites and how these regulatory events may impact host developmental and metabolic phenotypes.

Highlights

Many animals rely on odour and flow cues during navigation
Our objective was to build on recent efforts (Ferner and Weissburg, 2005; Wilson and Weissburg, 2012; Wyeth and Willows, 2006b; Wyeth et al, 2006) to explore the navigational strategies used by gastropods in turbulent odour plumes
Experiment 1: direct rhinophore stimulation When T. diomedea individuals received a stream of prey, predator or control odours in seawater that were directed towards a single rhinophore, turn responses (Fig. 1) to each of the odour treatments were not significantly different

Summary

Introduction

In higher Reynold’s number environments (>>1), where inertial hydrodynamic forces dominate, animals primarily respond to turbulent odour plumes to navigate with respect to odour sources (Vogel, 1994; Weissburg, 2000). Our understanding of both the behavioural strategies and the sensory modalities used is based largely on faster-moving arthropods and vertebrates, such as blue crabs, lobster, cockroaches, moths and fish Our objective for this study was to confirm the source(s) of sensory afference that are used in navigation as a key step towards reconstructing the central neural circuit that integrates sensory input and controls output to the motor neurons

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion