Gut microbiome - MHC - TB interactions in meerkats Mycobacterium is a wide-ranging bacterial pathogen of mammals that causes the disease Tuberculosis, and is an increasing threat to mammalian wildlife species. Mycobacterium suricattae is the TB-causing agent in wild meerkats in the Kalahari, and in this DFG-funded project we test 1) underlying drivers of gut microbiome dynamics and stability; 2) the extent to which the gut microbiome is governed by the MHC; and 3) how these come together to meditate Tuberculosis outcome. This project is a collaboration between Ulm University, the University of Zurich, and the Kalahari Meerkat Project. Impact of anthropogenic diets on pathogen dynamics in gulls
Herring and lesser-black backed gulls have undergone some of the most dramatic demographic changes of any species in the last 50 years. Traditionally a coastal species breeding on offshore islands (like most seabirds), most gulls now are considered 'urban gulls'. As such, gulls are a great model species to understand the impact of urban adaptation on host-microbe interactions. This project examines how anthropogenic diets might shape zoonotic disease risk. It also aims to feed evidence on diet, disease, and demography into management decisions on gulls, with a particular emphasis on engaged research alongside stakeholders. Effects of AMR genes on bacteria-plasmid bipartite networks
The spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most pressing public health issues globally. AMR genes are often spread by mobile genetic elements called plasmids, which can be beneficial or parasitic to host bacterial depending on what genes they carry and the environmental context. However, so far we don't know much about natural bacterial-plasmid networks because high-throughput sequencing cannot identify interacting bacterial and plasmids until recently. Hi-C sequencing technology can identify which DNA strands are in contact with other DNA strands, thereby allowing us for the first time to identify interacting bacterial and plasmids with sequencing technology. In this project, we examine how AMR genes on plasmids change bacterial-plasmid interaction networks using Hi-C data. This is a collaboration with Dirk Sanders, Angus Buckling, Thibault Stalder, and Eva Top. |