Spontaneous body wall contractions stabilize the fluid microenvironment that shapes host-microbe associations

Abstract
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Abstract

The freshwater polyp Hydra is a popular biological model system; however, we still do not understand one of its most salient behaviours, the generation of spontaneous body wall contractions. Here, by applying experimental fluid dynamics analysis and mathematical modelling, we provide functional evidence that spontaneous contractions of body walls enhance the transport of chemical compounds from and to the tissue surface where symbiotic bacteria reside. Experimentally, a reduction in the frequency of spontaneous body wall contractions is associated with a changed composition of the colonizing microbiota. Together, our findings suggest that spontaneous body wall contractions create an important fluid transport mechanism that (1) may shape and stabilize specific host-microbe associations and (2) create fluid microhabitats that may modulate the spatial distribution of the colonizing microbes. This mechanism may be more broadly applicable to animal-microbe interactions since research has shown that rhythmic spontaneous contractions in the gastrointestinal tracts are essential for maintaining normal microbiota.

Data availability

All data presented in the main manuscript and supplemental figures is publicly available at NCBI Bioproject PRJNA842888The 16S rRNA sequencing raw data are deposited at the SRA and are available under the project ID PRJNA842888.

The following data sets were generated

(2022) Spontaneous body wall contractions stabilize the fluid microenvironment that shapes host-microbe associations
NVBI BioProject, PRJNA842888.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/?term=PRJNA842888

Article and author information

Author details

Janna C Nawroth

Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Christoph Giez

Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Alexander Klimovich

Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-1764-0613
Eva Kanso

Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States

For correspondence
kanso@usc.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0336-585X
Thomas CG Bosch

Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

For correspondence
tbosch@zoologie.uni-kiel.de

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9488-5545

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (CRC 1182 Origin and Function of Metaorganisms"")

Janna C Nawroth
Christoph Giez
Alexander Klimovich
Eva Kanso
Thomas CG Bosch

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (CRC 1461 Neurotronics: Bio-Inspired Information Pathways"")

Thomas CG Bosch

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (CRC 1461 Neurotronics: Bio-Inspired Information Pathways"")

Alexander Klimovich

National Institutes of Health (grant 1 R01 HL 15362201-A)

Janna C Nawroth
Christoph Giez
Alexander Klimovich
Eva Kanso

National Science Foundation (INSPIRE grant 1608744)

Janna C Nawroth
Christoph Giez
Alexander Klimovich
Eva Kanso

National Science Foundation (RAISE grant)

Eva Kanso

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.