[bioundgrd] FW: MIT Microbiome Club Seminar Wed, 10/16 @ 4PM

[Joshua Stone]

From: Chelsea Catania <cataniac at mit.edu>
Subject: MIT Microbiome Club Seminar Wed, 10/16 @ 4PM

MIT Microbiome Club Seminar
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Dr. Aspen Reese

Domestication effects on the mammalian gut microbiota are
mediated by dietary shifts

Wednesday, May 14th at 4:00PM in 56-614<https://whereis.mit.edu/?go=56>

Please RSVP via Eventbrite<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/microbiome-club-seminar-dr-aspen-reese-domestication-effects-on-the-mammalian-gut-microbiota-are-tickets-75689604645>.


The gut microbiota provide crucial functions to their host, impacting diverse aspects of biology from metabolism and immunity to behavior. Thus, shifts in the microbiota can be an important pathway by which animals respond to environmental change. Some microbial shifts can benefit the host, but others are likely to be costly. Domestication is an evolutionary process which resulted in substantial genetic and ecological changes with potentially profound implications for the microbiota. The domestic microbiota are predicted to resemble that of modern industrialized human populations as the disruptions to historic host-microbe relationships were similar—including diet shifts, changes in movement and density, antibiotic use, and altered breeding and birthing. Microbial changes may not have been exclusively negative, however, and microbial responses to domestication that enhanced host phenotypes valuable to humans may even have been selected for. Drawing on comparative observational datasets and experiments in wild and domestic mice and canids, I have found that the domestic microbiota shows enhanced metabolism for domestic diets but may have lost traits relevant to host immunity. Beyond illuminating the role of the microbiota in domestic animal evolution, these data have potential application in promoting health as domestic animals are the primary organisms for biomedical research and are important sources of zoonotic diseases.


Bio: Aspen Reese is a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, where she studies the ecology and evolution of the gut microbiota. Before starting at Harvard, she completed a BS in Biology at Yale University and a PhD in Ecology at Duke University. Beginning in 2020, she will be an Assistant Professor in the Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution Department at University of California, San Diego.
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The MIT Microbiome Club, part of the Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, brings together inquisitive MIT undergrads, grad researchers, postdocs, faculty, and clinicians in the emerging field of microbiome studies and microbiome-based medicine. Learn more on our Facebook page. <https://www.facebook.com/MITmicrobiomeclub/> Or follow us on Twitter<https://twitter.com/MITubiomeclub>.

Chelsea Catania, Ph.D.
MIT Microbiome Club Seminar Chair
Postdoctoral Associate
Laboratory for Energy and Microsystems Innovation
Department of Mechanical Engineering
@MITubiomeclub<https://twitter.com/MITubiomeclub>

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