Int. J. Dev. Biol. 63: 447 - 450 (2019)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.190240ak

Vol 63, Issue 8-9-10

Special Issue: The Dictyostelium model system

Microbiome management in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum compared to humans

Open Access | Published: 11 December 2019

Timothy Farinholt¹, Christopher Dinh^1,2 and Adam Kuspa*^,1,2

¹Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and ²Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX, USA

Abstract

Social amoebae and humans use common strategies to orchestrate their interactions with the bacteria in their respective environments and within their bodies. These strategies include the elimination of bacteria by phagocytosis, the establishment of mutualistic interactions, the elaboration of physical barriers, and the deployment of innate immune cells. Many of the molecular mechanisms that humans and social amoebae employ differ, but there are striking similarities that may inform studies in each organism. In this topical review we highlight the similarities and consider what we might learn by comparing these highly divergent species. We focus on recent work in Dictyostelium discoideum with hopes of stimulating work in this area and with the expectation that new mechanistic details uncovered in social amoebae-bacteria interactions will inform microbiome management in humans.

Keywords

lectin, endosymbiosis, extracellular traps, bacteria