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Optogenetic control of gut bacterial metabolism to promote longevity
- Source :
- eLife, Vol 9 (2020), eLife
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Gut microbial metabolism is associated with host longevity. However, because it requires direct manipulation of microbial metabolism in situ, establishing a causal link between these two processes remains challenging. We demonstrate an optogenetic method to control gene expression and metabolite production from bacteria residing in the host gut. We genetically engineer anEscherichia colistrain that secretes colanic acid (CA) under the quantitative control of light. Using this optogenetically-controlled strain to induce CA production directly in theCaenorhabditis elegansgut, we reveal the local effect of CA in protecting intestinal mitochondria from stress-induced hyper-fragmentation. We also demonstrate that the lifespan-extending effect of this strain is positively correlated with the intensity of green light, indicating a dose-dependent CA benefit on the host. Thus, optogenetics can be used to achieve quantitative and temporal control of gut bacterial metabolism in order to reveal its local and systemic effects on host health and aging.
- Subjects :
- QH301-705.5
media_common.quotation_subject
Science
Microbial metabolism
Short Report
Optogenetics
Mitochondrion
medicine.disease_cause
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
longevity
Polysaccharides
Gene expression
medicine
Escherichia coli
Animals
bacteria-host interaction
Biology (General)
Caenorhabditis elegans
optogenetics
media_common
General Immunology and Microbiology
biology
General Neuroscience
aging
Longevity
E. coli
General Medicine
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
biology.organism_classification
Cell biology
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
mitochondria
C. elegans
Medicine
Bacteria
Developmental Biology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Volume :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- eLife
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....60c66c93e80e58409ba231e5df4c794f