ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2012) ? New research is revealing surprising connections between animal microbiomes -- the communities of microbes that live inside animals' bodies -- and animal behavior, according to a paper by University of Georgia ecologist Vanessa O. Ezenwa and her colleagues. The article, just published in the Perspectives section of the journal Science, reviews recent developments in this emerging research area and offers questions for future investigation.
The paper grew out of a National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on new ways to approach the study of animal behavior. Ezenwa, an associate professor in the UGA Odum School of Ecology and College of Veterinary Medicine department of infectious diseases, and her coauthors were interested in the relationship between animal behavior and beneficial microbes.
Most research on the interactions between microbes and their animal hosts has focused on pathogens, Ezenwa said. Less is known about beneficial microbes or animal microbiomes, but several recent studies have begun to explore these connections.
"We know that animal behavior plays a critical role in establishing microbiomes," she said. "Once they're established, the microbiomes then influence animal behavior in lots of ways that have far-reaching consequences. That's what we were trying to highlight in this article."
Bumble bees, for example, obtain the microbes they need through social contact with nest mates, including consuming their nest mates' feces-a not uncommon method for animals to acquire microbes. Green iguanas establish their intestinal microbiomes by feeding first on soil and later on the feces of adult iguanas.
"There are a lot of behaviors that animals might have that allow them to get the different microbes they need at different points of their lives," Ezenwa said.
Microbes, in their turn, influence a wide range of animal behaviors, including feeding, mating and predator-prey interactions.
One recent study found that fruit flies prefer to mate with others that have microbiomes most similar to their own. Another found that African malaria mosquitoes were less attracted to humans who had a greater diversity of microbes on their skin, possibly because certain microbes produce chemicals that repel these mosquitoes.
Other studies have focused on understanding the mechanisms by which microbes influence behavior.
"Recent experiments have been able to assess the molecules that are involved in communication between microbes in the gut and the brain of mice, showing that microbes are associated with shifts in things like depression and anxiety in these mice," she said. "There are huge implications in the role these microbes play in regulating neural function."
Ezenwa's own work involves investigating how social behavior and interactions between organisms might increase their likelihood of acquiring parasites and pathogens. She is starting a new project examining animal behavior and microbiomes in relation to infectious disease.
"As in the example of the bumble bees, behavior might control the microbes an animal acquires, and those microbes might then influence the animal's vulnerability to pathogens," she said.
The authors conclude that it will take a combination of molecular and experimental approaches to answer questions about the complex interactions between microbiomes and animal behaviors.
"This is a new, emerging topic that's worthy of much more investigation," Ezenwa said.
The article's coauthors are Nicole M. Gerardo of Emory University; David W. Inouye of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and the University of Maryland; Monica Medina of the University of California, Merced; and Joao B. Xavier of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Georgia. The original article was written by Beth Gavrilles.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- V. O. Ezenwa, N. M. Gerardo, D. W. Inouye, M. Medina, J. B. Xavier. Animal Behavior and the Microbiome. Science, 2012; 338 (6104): 198 DOI: 10.1126/science.1227412
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/DUWW1niNOgQ/121011162152.htm
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Paperless Post, a company that has built a name for itself offering a cloud-based, visually engaging, way of sending people invites by email, is going retro: today the company is officially launching PAPER, a printed stationary business that it will sit alongside its less physical cousin, which now has?1.5 million registered users, and has sent out invites to 30 million more since going live in 2009.
Here I?ve got my four dough pieces rolled out into rectangles- well, they?re supposed to be anyway, but mine look more oblong than anything. Oh, it doesn?t matter? they taste just the same! (I even tasted a tiny tad of dough at this point? I had to make sure it was tasting good for the end product.) Then, just cut each one into strips about a quarter inch wide and hang ?em up like this.
Clothes hangers worked beautifully. Only, my pasta had broken at the top where it overhangs and fallen to the counter while drying overnight. I really didn?t care because it?s so much easier to eat shorter pasta anyway! But, I couldn?t quite explain why. Oh well. Time to cook it- and it was yummy! Good thing there was some leftover spaghetti meat to toss on top of my pasta because I wanted to sort of test it before preparing a whole planned-out meal for it. You understand? Exactly. So, now I?m ready to make more homemade pasta. It?s fun, it?s tasty and it?s totally awesome. Whoo!
Recipe: