A4
Mathematical modeling of interactions in evolving metaorganisms
Why do individuals from different taxonomic groups and even kingdoms of life interact with each other within a metaorganism in a generally beneficial way and thereby form a unit of selection? This question is one of the most fascinating, unresolved mysteries in current evolutionary biology. The reason is that selection at the individual level should usually be strongest for an evolving population, because at this level phenotypic variation directly translates into fitness differences among the individuals. At the level of the entire community, the same variations merge into an average value of fitness, possibly slowing down the response to selection at the community level.
Mathematical models can help us understand the selective conditions that favour beneficial interactions within the metaorganism. This project aims at establishing mathematical models based on empirical data obtained from two simple experimental systems, the Hydra and the C. elegans metaorganisms, which both serve to describe the interaction between different microbe types (bacteria, bacteriophages) and between these microbes and their host. The models will be used to understand the dynamics of the microbial interactions, i.e. the change in relative and absolute abundances of microbes over time, and also the resulting effects on fitness and other life-history functions of the metaorganism.
The project will rely on a close collaboration between experimental and theoretical groups. During the development of the mathematical models, which will be an abstraction and simplification of the biological reality, we will test important basic model assumptions and thereafter further expand the model in an iterative procedure between theory and experiments. The proposed project will prepare the ground for applying similar theoretical approaches to other research projects of the CRC 1182.
Researchers
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Thomas C.G. Bosch
Publications
2020
Community assembly of the native C. elegans microbiome is influenced by time, substrate and individual bacterial taxa.
Johnke J, Dirksen P, Schulenburg H (2020) Environmental Microbiology 22(4), 1265–1279. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.14932
2019
FeaturedAdvancing our functional understanding of host–microbiota interactions: a need for new types of studies
He J, Lange J, Marinos G, Bathia J, Harris D, Soluch R, Vaibhvi V, Deines P, Hassani MA, Wagner K-S, Zapien‐Campos R, Jaspers C, Sommer F (2019) BioEssays, 1900211 (1-5). doi: 10.1002/bies.201900211
FeaturedA phage protein aids bacterial symbionts in eukaryote immune evasion
Jahn MT, Arkhipova K, Markert SM, Stigloher C, Lachnit T, Pita L, Kupczok A, Ribes M, Stengel ST, Rosenstiel P, Dutilh BE, Hentschel U (2019) Cell Host & Microbe, doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2019.08.019
FeaturedThe functional repertoire contained within the native microbiota of the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
Zimmermann J, Obeng N, Yang W, Pees B, Petersen C, Waschina S, Kissoyan KAB, Aidley J, Hoeppner MP, Bunk B, Spröer C, Leippe M, Dierking K, Kaleta C*, Schulenburg H* (2019) The ISME Journal. 1-13. * Shared senior authorship doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0504-y
The inducible response of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to members of its natural microbiome across development and adult life
Yang W#, Petersen C#, Pees B#, Zimmermann J, Waschina S, Dirksen P, Rosenstiel P, Tholey A, Leippe M, Dierking K, Kaleta C*, Schulenburg H*. Front Microbiol. 10:1793. # Equal contribution as first authors, * Equal contribution as senior authors doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01793.
FeaturedTemperature and insulin signaling regulate body size in Hydra by the Wnt and TGF-beta pathways
Mortzfeld BM*, Taubenheim J*, Klimovich AV, Fraune S, Rosenstiel P, Bosch TCG (2019) Nature Communications 10, 3257. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-11136-6
FeaturedNeutrality in the metaorganism
Sieber M, Pita L, Weiland-Bräuer N, Dirksen P, Wang J, Mortzfeld B, Franzenburg S, Schmitz RA, Baines JF, Fraune S, Hentschel U, Schulenburg H, Bosch TCG, Traulsen A (2019) PLoS Biol., DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000298
The microbiome mediates environmental effects on ageing
Finlay B, Pettersson S, Melby M, Bosch TCG (2019) BioEssays, 1800257, 1-7; doi: 10.1002/bies.201800257
Evolutionary “experiments” in symbiosis: the study of model animals provides insights into the mechanisms underlying diversity of host-microbe interactions
Bosch TCG, Guillemin K, McFall-Ngai M (2019) BioEssays, 1800256 (1-8). doi: 10.1002/bies.201800256
Exposure of the host-associated microbiome to nutrient-rich conditions may lead to dysbiosis and disease development – an evolutionary perspective.
Lachnit T, Bosch TCG, Deines P (2019) mBio (Opinion article); 10:3, e00355-19, 1-8, doi: 10.1128/mBio.00355-19
Bdellovibrio and like organisms are predictors of microbiome diversity across diverse host groups.
Johnke J, Fraune S, Bosch TCG, Hentschel U, Schulenburg H (2019) Microbial Ecology DOI: 10.1007/s00248-019-01395-7
Resolving structure and function of metaorganisms through a holistic framework 2 combining reductionist and integrative approaches
Jaspers C, Fraune S, Consortium of Australian Academy of Science Boden Research Conference Participants, Arnold AE, Miller DJ, Bosch TCG, Voolstra CR (2019) Zoology. doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2019.02.007
2018
Hydra as Model to Determine the Role of FOXO in Longevity
Bosch TCG (2018); Methods Mol Biol. 1890:231-238. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8900-3_19
Metabolic co-dependence drives the evolutionarily ancient Hydra-Chlorella symbiosis.
Hamada M, Schröder K, Bathia J, Kürn U, Fraune S, Khalturina M, Khalturin K, Shinzato C, Satoh N, Bosch TC (2018); Elife 7. pii: e35122. doi: 10.7554/eLife.35122
Grow With the Challenge – Microbial Effects on Epithelial Proliferation, Carcinogenesis, and Cancer Therapy
Von Frieling J, Fink C, Hamm J, Klischies K, Forster M, Thomas C. G. Bosch TCG, Roeder T, P Rosenstiel P, Sommer F (2018); Front. Microbiol. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02020
Non-senescent Hydra tolerates severe disturbances in the nuclear lamina.
Klimovich A, Rehm A, Wittlieb J, Herbst EM, Benavente R, Bosch TCG (2018); Aging (Albany NY) 10(5):951-972. doi: 10.18632/aging.101440
Rethinking the Role of the Nervous System: Lessons From the Hydra Holobiont.
Klimovich AV, Bosch TCG (2018); Bioessays 40(9):e1800060. doi: 10.1002/bies.201800060
Stem cell transcription factor FoxO controls microbiome resilience in Hydra.
Mortzfeld B M, Taubenheim J,Fraune S, Klimovich A V, Bosch T C G (2018); Front Microbiol., doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00629
Metaorganisms in extreme environments: do microbes play a role in organismal adaptation?
Bang C, Dagan T, Deines P, Dubilier N, Duschl W J, Fraune S, Hentschel U, Hirt H, Hülter N, Lachnit T, Picazo D, Galan P L, Pogoreutz C, Rädecker N, Saad M M, Schmitz R A, Schulenburg H, Voolstra C R, Weiland-Bräuer N, Ziegler M, Bosch T C G (2018); Zoology, doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2018.02.004
How the microbiome challenges our concept of self.
Rees T, Bosch T G C, Douglas A E (2018); PloS Biol., 16(2):e2005358. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2005358
2017
Temperate phages as self-replicating weapons in bacterial competition.
Li XY, Lachnit T, Fraune S, Bosch T C G, Traulsen A, Sieber M (2017); J R Soc Interface, 14(137). doi: 10.1098/rsif.2017.0563
Spontaneous body contractions are modulated by the microbiome of Hydra.
Murillo-Rincon A P, Klimovich A, Pemöller E, Taubenheim J, Mortzfeld B, Augustin R, Bosch T C G (2017); Scientific Reports, 7(15937). doi:10.1038/s41598-017-16191-x
FeaturedA secreted antibacterial neuropeptide shapes the microbiome of Hydra.
Augustin R, Schröder K, Murillo Rincón A P, Fraune S, Anton-Erxleben F, Herbst E M, Wittlieb J, Schwentner M, Grötzinger J, Wassenaar T M, Bosch T C G (2017); Nat Commun., 8(1):698. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00625-1
The Natural Biotic Environment of Caenorhabditis elegans.
Schulenburg H, Félix M A (2017); Genetics., 206(1):55-86. doi: 10.1534/genetics.116.195511
Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for microbiome research.
Zhang F, Berg M, Dierking K, Félix M A, Shapira M, Samuel B, Schulenburg H (2017); Front. Microbiol., 8:485. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00485
2016
Emerging Sponge Models of Animal-Microbe Symbioses.
Pita L, Fraune S, Hentschel U (2016); Front Microbiol., 7:2102. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.02102
The Origin of Mucosal Immunity: Lessons from the Holobiont Hydra.
Schröder K, Bosch T C (2016); MBio., 7(6):e01184-16. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01184-16
Transitioning from Microbiome Composition to Microbial Community Interactions: The Potential of the Metaorganism Hydra as an Experimental Model.
Deines P, Bosch T C G (2016); Front. Microbiol., 7:1610. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01610
Using Nematostella vectensis to Study the Interactions between Genome, Epigenome, and Bacteria in a Changing Environment.
Fraune S, Forêt S, Reitzel A M (2016); Front. Mar. Sci., 3:148. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00148
Antimicrobial effectors in the nematode C. elegans – an outgroup to the Arthropoda.
Dierking K, Yang W, Schulenburg H (2016); Phil Trans R Soc Lond B., 371. doi:
The native microbiome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: Gateway to a new host-microbiome model.
Dirksen P, Marsh SA, Braker I, Heitland N, Wagner S, Nakad R, Mader S, Petersen C, Kowallik V, Rosenstiel P C, Felix M A, Schulenburg H (2016); BMC Biology, 14:38. doi:10.1186/s12915-016-0258-1