Nature Communications (Sep 2017)

A secreted antibacterial neuropeptide shapes the microbiome of Hydra

  • René Augustin,
  • Katja Schröder,
  • Andrea P. Murillo Rincón,
  • Sebastian Fraune,
  • Friederike Anton-Erxleben,
  • Eva-Maria Herbst,
  • Jörg Wittlieb,
  • Martin Schwentner,
  • Joachim Grötzinger,
  • Trudy M. Wassenaar,
  • Thomas C. G. Bosch

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00625-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

Read online

Certain neuropeptides, in addition to their neuromodulatory functions, display antibacterial activities of unclear significance. Here, the authors show that a secreted neuropeptide modulates the distribution of bacterial communities on the body surface during development of the model organism Hydra.