title: Examination of Host Phenotypes in Gambusia affinis Following Antibiotic Treatment.
abstract: The commonality of antibiotic usage in medicine means that understanding the resulting consequences to the host is vital. Antibiotics often decrease host microbiome community diversity and alter the microbial community composition. Many diseases such as antibiotic-associated enterocolitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and metabolic disorders have been linked to a disrupted microbiota. The complex interplay between host, microbiome, and antibiotics needs a tractable model for studying host-microbiome interactions. Our freshwater vertebrate fish serves as a useful model for investigating the universal aspects of mucosal microbiome structure and function as well as analyzing consequential host effects from altering the microbial community. Methods include host challenges such as infection by a known fish pathogen, exposure to fecal or soil microbes, osmotic stress, nitrate toxicity, growth analysis, and measurement of gut motility. These techniques demonstrate a flexible and useful model system for rapid determination of host phenotypes.
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University; jettcarlson@shsu.edu.
authors.forename: Jeanette M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University; Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M University Health Science Center.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chavez
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University.
authors.forename: Sonali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University.
authors.forename: Todd P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Primm
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003532:Cyprinodontiformes / Q000382:microbiology; D005243:Feces; D005393:Fish Diseases; D064307:Microbiota / Q000187:drug effects*; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents