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0 Q&A 1791 Views Nov 5, 2025

Xenobiotics, including environmental pollutants such as bisphenols, phthalates, and parabens, are widely present in food, cosmetics, packaging, and water. These compounds can reach the gastrointestinal tract and interact with the gut microbiota (GM), a complex microbial community that plays a key role in host immunity, metabolism, and barrier function. The GM engages in bidirectional communication with the host via the production of bioactive metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, neurotransmitter precursors, and bile acid derivatives. Dysbiosis induced by xenobiotics can disrupt microbial metabolite production, impair gut barrier integrity, and contribute to the development of systemic disorders affecting distant organs such as the liver or brain. On the other hand, the GM can biotransform xenobiotics into metabolites with altered bioactivity or toxicity. In vitro models of the human GM offer a valuable tool to complement population-based and in vivo studies, enabling controlled investigation of causative effects and underlying mechanisms. Here, we present an optimized protocol for the collection, cryopreservation, and cultivation of human GM under strictly anaerobic conditions for toxicomicrobiomics applications. The method allows the assessment of xenobiotic–GM interactions in a cost-effective and ethically sustainable way. It is compatible with a wide range of downstream applications, including 16S rDNA sequencing, metabolomics, and endocrine activity assays. The protocol has been optimized to minimize oxygen exposure to less than 2 min, ensuring the viability of obligate anaerobes that dominate the gut ecosystem. This approach facilitates reproducible, mechanistic studies on the impact of environmental xenobiotics on human GM.

0 Q&A 10381 Views Jun 20, 2018
Besides analyzing the composition and dynamics of microbial communities, plant microbiome research aims to understanding the mechanism of plant microbiota assembly and their biological functions. Here, we describe procedures to investigate the role of bacterial interspecies interactions in root microbiome assembly and the beneficial effects of the root microbiota on hosts by using a maize root-associated simplified seven-species (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Ochrobactrum pituitosum, Curtobacterium pusillum, Enterobacter cloacae, Chryseobacterium indologenes, Herbaspirillum frisingense and Pseudomonas putida) synthetic bacterial community described in our previous work. Surface-sterilized maize seeds were grown in a gnotobiotic system based on double-tube growth chambers after being soaked in suspensions containing multiple species of bacteria. The dynamics of the composition of the bacterial communities colonized on maize roots were tracked by a culture-dependent method with a selective medium for each of the seven strains. The impact of bacterial interactions on the community assembly was evaluated by monitoring the changes of community structure. The plant-protection effects of the simplified seven-species community were assessed by quantifying (1) the growth of a fungal phytopathogen, Fusarium verticillioides on the surfaces of the seeds and (2) the severity of seedling blight disease the fungus causes, in the presence and absence of the bacterial community. Our protocol will serve as useful guidance for studying plant-microbial community interactions under the laboratory conditions.



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