Analysis_of_porcine__human__and_humanised_gut_strata__to_identify_bacterial_species_and_molecular_determinants_of_hatching_across_Trichuris_Species

richuriasis is a disease caused by infection with Trichuris trichiura, the human whipworm. Trichuriasis has been studied in animal models, in particular the mouse and pig whipworms, T. muris and T. suis, respectively. Experiments using these models indicate a role of the host intestinal microbiota in inducing hatching of whipworm eggs. Specifically, Escherichia coli surface molecules have been shown to play a role in the hatching of T. muris. I hypothesise that the same or similar molecules found in specific conformations on defined members of the host gut microbiota trigger hatching across other Trichuris species, through both physical interaction and enzymatic activity around the polar plugs. I aim to identify parasite and host factors responsible for whipworm hatching using samples from porcine, human, and humanised mice guts to study hatching in T. muris, T. suis, and T. trichiura. I investigated the effect of different fractions of the porcine gastrointestinal tract on hatching of T. suis and T. muris; different bacteria reside in the niches found along the gut so I collected mucosal scrapings and luminal contents of the duodenum, ileum, and caecum. I also investigated the effects of human colonic biopsies and human stool samples on hatching of T. trichiura and T.muris. Finally, I am evaluating whether humanised microbiota mice can be used as a tractable model for cultivating T. trichiura in the lab. Through metagenomic analysis on these murine, porcine, and human intestinal samples I plan to get an in depth understanding of the population structure across the gut, and further examine the genomes of candidate microbiota to unravel key bacterial genotypes and phenotypes resulting in the molecular determinants of hatching. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/