A genetic screen to identify host factors required for commensal bacterial adherence to the gut epithelia
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Bacterial adherence to gut epithelial cells likely involves host genetic components. We isolated a gut commensal bacterium, Lelliottia jeotgali , that can robustly colonize C. elegans through attachment to intestinal epithelial cells. Here, we developed a novel screen in C. elegans to identify host genes required for microbiome bacterial colonization. Using transgenic L. jeotgali strain expressing tdTomato, we conducted forward genetic screens in C. elegans to select for mutants that completely lost colonization. We identified multiple allelic mutations in five different C. elegans genes, termed knockout of Lelliottia adherence ( kola ) mutants, with a near complete loss of adherence. Each of kola-1-5 is uncharacterized and predicted to encode for a secreted or membrane-bound protein. We also identified gly-5 , a GalNAc transferase that initiates O-linked glycosylation. Overall, we describe the first C. elegans screen to identify host factors that control microbiome bacterial colonization in the gut.
Institution: San Diego State University
Language: English
Topic: Gut microbiota and health
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225774302
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