title: Editor's Highlight: OrganophosphateDiazinon Altered Quorum Sensing, Cell Motility, Stress Response, and Carbohydrate Metabolism of Gut Microbiome.
abstract: The gut microbiome plays a key role in energy production, immune system development, and host resistance against invading pathogens, etc. Disruption of gut bacterial homeostasis is associated with a number of human diseases. Several environmental chemicals have been reported to induce alterations of the gut microbiome. Diazinon, one of important organophosphate insecticides, has been widely used in agriculture. Diazinon and its metabolites are readily detected in different environmental settings and human urine. The toxicity of organophosphates has been a long-standing public health concern. We recently demonstrated that organophosphate insecticide diazinon perturbed the gut microbiome composition of mice. However, the functional impact of exposure on the gut microbiome has not been adequately assessed yet. In particular, the molecular mechanism responsible for exposure-induced microbial profile and community structure changes has not been identified. Therefore, in this study, we used metatranscriptomics to examine the effects of diazinon exposure on the gut metatranscriptome in C57BL/6 mice. Herein, we demonstrated for the first time that organophosphate diazinon modulated quorum sensing, which may serve as a key mechanism to regulate bacterial population, composition, and more importantly, their functional genes. In addition, we also found that diazinon exposure activated diverse stress response pathways and profoundly impaired energy metabolism of gut bacteria. These findings provide new understandings of the functional interplay between the gut microbiome and environmental chemicals, such as organophosphates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602.|Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602.|Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599.
authors.forename: Pengcheng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607.
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ru
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018988:Bacterial Translocation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D003976:Diazinon / Q000633:toxicity*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D054892:Metagenome; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D003976:Diazinon
keywords: gut microbiome; metatranscriptomics; organophosphate; quorum sensing