Microbiomes form intimate functional associations with their hosts. Much has been learned from correlating changes in microbiome composition to host organismal functions. However, in-depth functional studies require the manipulation of microbiome composition coupled with the precise interrogation of organismal physiology—features available in few host study systems. Caenorhabditis elegans has proven to be an excellent genetic model organism to study innate immunity and, more recently, microbiome interactions. The study of C. elegans-pathogen interactions has provided in depth understanding of innate immune pathways, many of which are conserved in other animals. However, many bacteria were chosen for these studies because of their convenience in the lab setting or their implication in human health rather than their native interactions with C. elegans. In their natural environment, C. elegans feed on a variety of bacteria found in rotting organic matter, such as rotting fruits, flowers, and stems. Recent work has begun to characterize the native microbiome and has identified a common set of bacteria found in the microbiome of C. elegans. While some of these bacteria are beneficial to C. elegans health, others are detrimental, leading to a complex, multifaceted understanding of bacterium-nematode interactions. Current research on nematode-bacterium interactions is focused on these native microbiome components, both their interactions with each other and with C. elegans. We will summarize our knowledge of bacterial pathogen-host interactions in C. elegans, as well as recent work on the native microbiome, and explore the incorporation of these bacterium-nematode interactions into studies of innate immunity and pathogenesis.

中文翻译：

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走一走秀丽隐杆线虫的狂野一面-病原体相互作用

微生物组与其宿主形成密切的功能关联。从将微生物组组成的变化与宿主有机体功能相关联中学到了很多东西。然而，深入的功能研究需要对微生物组组成的操作以及对有机体生理学的精确询问——这些特征在少数宿主研究系统中可用。Caenorhabditis elegans已被证明是一种优秀的遗传模型生物，可用于研究先天免疫以及最近的微生物组相互作用。秀丽隐杆线虫的研究-病原体相互作用提供了对先天免疫途径的深入了解，其中许多在其他动物中是保守的。然而，选择许多细菌进行这些研究是因为它们在实验室环境中的便利性或它们对人类健康的影响，而不是它们与秀丽隐杆线虫的天然相互作用。在它们的自然环境中，秀丽隐杆线虫以腐烂的有机物质中发现的各种细菌为食，例如腐烂的水果、花朵和茎。最近的工作已经开始对天然微生物组进行表征，并确定了在秀丽隐杆线虫微生物组中发现的一组常见细菌。虽然其中一些细菌对秀丽隐杆线虫有益健康，其他人是有害的，导致对细菌-线虫相互作用的复杂、多方面的理解。目前关于线虫-细菌相互作用的研究主要集中在这些天然微生物组成分上，包括它们之间的相互作用以及与秀丽隐杆线虫的相互作用。我们将总结我们对秀丽隐杆线虫中细菌病原体-宿主相互作用的了解，以及最近对天然微生物组的研究，并探索将这些细菌-线虫相互作用纳入先天免疫和发病机制的研究。