Magnetic chitin beads (MCB) coated with Vibrio cholerae reveals transcriptome dynamics in adult mice with a complex gut microbiota
Zi-Xin Qin,
Guo-Zhong Chen,
Wei Bao,
Yao Ma,
Xiao-Man Yang,
Chun-Rong Yi,
Mei Luo,
Jun Hu,
Zhi Liu
Affiliations
Zi-Xin Qin
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Guo-Zhong Chen
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Wei Bao
National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Yao Ma
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Xiao-Man Yang
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Chun-Rong Yi
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Mei Luo
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Jun Hu
National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Zhi Liu
Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
ABSTRACTVibrio cholerae adapts to the host environment by altering gene expression. Because of the complexity of the gut microbiome, current in vivo V. cholerae transcriptome studies have focused on microbiota-undeveloped conditions, neglecting the interaction between the host’s commensal gut microbiota and V. cholerae. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome of fully colonized adult mice in vivo using V. cholerae coated-magnetic chitin beads (vcMCB). This provides a simple yet powerful method for obtaining high-quality RNA from V. cholerae during colonization in mice. The transcriptome of V. cholerae recovered from adult mice infected with vcMCB shows differential expression of several genes when compared to V. cholerae recovered from the infant mouse and infant rabbit model. Some of these genes were also observed to be differentially expressed in previous studies of V. cholerae recovered from human infection when compared to V. cholerae grown in vitro. In particular, we confirmed that V. cholerae resists the inhibitory effects of low pH and formic acid from gut microbiota, such as Anaerostipes caccae and Dorea formicigenerans, by downregulating vc1080. We propose that the vc1080 product may protect V. cholerae from formic acid stress through a novel acid tolerance response mechanism. Transcriptomic data obtained using the vcMCB system provide new perspectives on the interaction between V. cholerae and the gut microbiota, and this approach can also be applied to studies of other pathogenic bacteria.
