Understanding complex host-microbe interactions in Hydra.
Any multicellular organism may be considered a metaorganism or holobiont-comprised of the macroscopic host and synergistic interdependence with bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses, and numerous other microbial and eukaryotic species including algal symbionts. Defining the individual microbe-host conversations in these consortia is a challenging but necessary step on the path to understanding the function of the associations as a whole. Dissecting the fundamental principles that underlie all host-microbe interactions requires simple animal models with only a few specific bacterial species. Here I present Hydra as such a model with one of the simplest epithelia in the animal kingdom, with the availability of a fully sequenced genome and numerous genomic tools, and with few associated bacterial species.
Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany. tbosch@zoologie.uni-kiel.de
Thomas C G
TC
Bosch
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006829:Hydra / Q000382:microbiology*; D023421:Models, Animal