Colonization of the Intestinal Surface by Indigenous Microbiota

Abstract

The mammalian gut evolved to foster the development and maintenance of a community of specific bacterial symbionts that persist for years. Bacteroides fragilis is one of a number of species that are able to colonize the mucus of the large intestine in mice and humans. This thesis explores the mechanisms and functions of mucosal colonization, most notably by using reductionist approaches with gnotobiotic mice. Harnessing genetics on both the host and microbial side allowed the dissection of a pathway by which immunoglobulin A enhances mucosal colonization by B. fragilis. Novel colonization assays were developed to explore the importance of mucosal colonization to bacterial fitness. Finally, an enrichment method for host-associated bacterial transcriptomics was used to define the behavior of this symbiont within the mucus layer.