美国卡内基科学研究所William B. Ludington团队近期取得重要工作进展，他们研究发现了共栖宿主特异性的保守细菌遗传基础。相关研究成果2024年12月6日在线发表于《科学》杂志上。

据介绍，动物从其环境中选择性地获得特定的共生肠道细菌，以帮助宿主适应。为了定居，共生体必须定位其生态位并维持肠道内的生长。粘附素是细菌细胞表面蛋白，有助于附着在宿主组织上，通常是机会性病原体的毒力因子。然而，附着物通常是短暂的、非特异性的，需要额外的机制来维持感染。

研究人员使用定殖在活体黑腹果蝇肠道中的单个共生细菌细胞的活体成像，来证明植物乳杆菌特异性地将果蝇前肠识别为一个独特的物理生态位。植物乳杆菌通过定殖岛上携带的基因编码的宿主特异性粘附素，在其生态位内稳定建立。粘附素结合结构域在整个乳杆菌中都是保守的，该岛还编码了一个在共生菌和致病菌中广泛保守的分泌系统。

附：英文原文

Title: A conserved bacterial genetic basis for commensal-host specificity

Author: Karina Gutiérrez-García, Kevin Aumiller, Ren Dodge, Benjamin Obadia, Ann Deng, Sneha Agrawal, Xincheng Yuan, Richard Wolff, Haolong Zhu, Ru-Ching Hsia, Nandita Garud, William B. Ludington

Issue&Volume: 2024-12-06

Abstract: Animals selectively acquire specific symbiotic gut bacteria from their environments that aid host fitness. To colonize, a symbiont must locate its niche and sustain growth within the gut. Adhesins are bacterial cell surface proteins that facilitate attachment to host tissues and are often virulence factors for opportunistic pathogens. However, the attachments are often transient and nonspecific, and additional mechanisms are required to sustain infection. In this work, we use live imaging of individual symbiotic bacterial cells colonizing the gut of living Drosophila melanogaster to show that Lactiplantibacillus plantarum specifically recognizes the fruit fly foregut as a distinct physical niche. L. plantarum establishes stably within its niche through host-specific adhesins encoded by genes carried on a colonization island. The adhesin binding domains are conserved throughout the Lactobacillales, and the island also encodes a secretion system widely conserved among commensal and pathogenic bacteria.

DOI: adp7748

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp7748

来源：科学网  小柯机器人