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PMID: 12923294 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

Honor thy symbionts.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 100 ·No. 18 ·2003-09-02 ·Pages 10452-9

Xu J, Gordon JI

Abstract

Our intestine is the site of an extraordinarily complex and dynamic environmentally transmitted consortial symbiosis. The molecular foundations of beneficial symbiotic host-bacterial relationships in the gut are being revealed in part from studies of simplified models of this ecosystem, where germ-free mice are colonized with specified members of the microbial community, and in part from comparisons of the genomes of members of the intestinal microbiota. The results emphasize the contributions of symbionts to postnatal gut development and host physiology, as well as the remarkable strategies these microorganisms have evolved to sustain their alliances. These points are illustrated by the human-Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron symbiosis. Interdisciplinary studies of the effects of the intestinal environment on genome structure and function should provide important new insights about how microbes and humans have coevolved mutually beneficial relationships and new perspectives about the foundations of our health.

MeSH Terms
Animals Bacteroides/genetics Biological Evolution Ecosystem Genome, Bacterial Genomics Germ-Free Life Humans Intestines/microbiology Polysaccharides, Bacterial/biosynthesis Symbiosis
Chemicals
Polysaccharides, Bacterial
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Xu Jian
Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Gordon Jeffrey I
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1734063100
Published
2003-09-02
Epub
2003-00-15
Pages
10452-9
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC193582
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1734063100 PMC Full Text View journal details
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