C. elegans – a model system to study causation in the microbiome-gut-brain axis (360G-Wellcome-213954_Z_18_Z)

£99,905

Metagenomic approaches are generating a long list of health and disease states associated with the microbiome (the microbes inhabiting our digestive tract) but without mechanistic understanding. The challenges arise from the enormous complexity of the microbiome, including genetic, environmental and dietary variations, microbe-microbe interactions, and the cost associated with studying the microbiome using murine models. If the field is to move beyond association, simple, well-controlled and cost-effective models allowing unbiased high-throughput studies are needed. The nematode C. elegans is a genetically tractable model, ideally suited for mechanistic and causative studies of host-microbiome and microbe-microbe interactions shaping host physiology and metabolism. Aims: 1) Establish an experimental microbiome in C. elegans based on strains from the human microbiome associated with health, disease and ageing 2) Generate fluorescent labelled bacterial strains and perform real-time imaging of gut colonisation 3) Characterise the effects of the experimental microbiome on the microbiome-gut-brain axis during ageing The experimental microbiome in C. elegans will be an important contribution to the field, complementing existing models. It will allow me to establish important collaborations, form a basis for my future research and address one of the most important questions of modern biology: the effects of the microbiome on host physiology.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 99905
Applicant Surname Ezcurra
Approval Committee Science Seeds Advisory Panel
Award Date 2018-09-06T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2017/18
Grant Programme: Title Seed Award in Science
Internal ID 213954/Z/18/Z
Lead Applicant Dr Marina Ezcurra
Partnership Value 99905
Planned Dates: End Date 2022-01-03T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2019-04-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region South East