Osborne A204

The gut microbiome—the ecosystem of bacteria that resides within our guts—influences our health, but we do not yet fully understand how our gut microbiome is assembled over the course of our life.  Hosts are constantly exposed to microbial species that may or may not colonize, leading to a combinatorially large number of possible microbiome compositions. We mathematically characterize this process of microbiome assembly using well-controlled fruit fly experiments and find that the assembly process is stochastic, explaining how the vast diversity of microbiome compositions across individuals is maintained. In conjunction with microscopy images of colonizing bacteria, we develop ecological theory that links bacterial colony size to accessible experimental measurements. Our findings yield design principles for microbiome-based therapies, and place limits on their efficacyThe gut microbiome—the ecosystem of bacteria that resides within our guts—influences our health, but we do not yet fully understand how our gut microbiome is assembled over the course of our life.  Hosts are constantly exposed to microbial species that may or may not colonize, leading to a combinatorially large number of possible microbiome compositions. We mathematically characterize this process of microbiome assembly using well-controlled fruit fly experiments and find that the assembly process is stochastic, explaining how the vast diversity of microbiome compositions across individuals is maintained. In conjunction with microscopy images of colonizing bacteria, we develop ecological theory that links bacterial colony size to accessible experimental measurements. Our findings yield design principles for microbiome-based therapies, and place limits on their efficacy.

Hosted by: Department of Physics & Energy Science, UCCS Physics Club

Additional Information can be found at: https://mlc.uccs.edu/event/10825943

ThoughtfulLearning, Seminar, Natural Sciences