Molecular Analyses of Changes Induced in the Microbial Populations of Murine Colon After As(III) Exposure Rishu Dheer
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Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Summer 2011 Molecular Analyses of Changes Induced in the Microbial Populations of Murine Colon After As(III) Exposure Rishu Dheer Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Dheer, R. (2011). Molecular Analyses of Changes Induced in the Microbial Populations of Murine Colon After As(III) Exposure (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/484 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MOLECULAR ANALYSES OF CHANGES INDUCED IN THE MICROBIAL POPULATIONS OF MURINE COLON AFTER As (III) EXPOSURE A Dissertation Submitted to Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Rishu Dheer August, 2011 Copyright by Rishu Dheer 2011 MOLECULAR ANALYSES OF CHANGES INDUCED IN THE MICROBIAL POPULATIONS OF MURINE COLON AFTER As (III) EXPOSURE By Rishu Dheer Approved June 14, 2011 ________________________________ ________________________________ Dr. John F. Stolz Dr. Aaron Barchowsky Director, Center of Environmental Associate Professor of Biology Research and Education (Committee Member) Professor of Biology (Committee Chair) ________________________________ ________________________________ Dr. David Lampe Dr. Nancy Trun Associate Professor of Biology Interim Chair, Department of Biological (Committee Member) Sciences Associate Professor of Biology (Committee Member) ________________________________ Dr. David W. Syebert Dean, Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry iii ABSTRACT MOLECULAR ANALYSES OF CHANGES INDUCED IN THE MICROBIAL POPULATIONS OF MURINE COLON AFTER As (III) EXPOSURE By Rishu Dheer August, 2011 Dissertation supervised by Dr. John F. Stolz The gut microbiota is essential for mammalian health and metabolism. Thus identifying factors that influence the host microbiota is key to understanding the dynamic interplay between the host and its microbiota. Recent studies have shown the effect of chronic exposures of trivalent arsenic [As(III)] in environmentally relevant concentrations on host physiology, however, little is known of how it impacts the gut microbiota. This study examined the hypothesis that environmentally relevant concentrations of As(III) in drinking water will directly affect the murine colon microbial composition and physiology. The colon microbial communities from 10 and 250 ppb of As(III) exposed mice were compared to the control mice after 2, 5 and 10 weeks of As(III) exposure. Molecular analysis based on 16S rRNA gene and 16S- 23S intergenic region indicated a time and dose dependent shift in microbial community composition. Analysis iv of 16S rDNA clone libraries demonstrated an increase in Bacteroidetes and proportionally fewer Firmicutes in colon microbiota in response to As(III) exposure. Microbes have developed mechanisms to tolerate arsenic present in the environment. This study is the first to show that the gut microbes express arsenic resistant genes (arsA and arsB) in the colon. However, exposure to ppb concentrations of As(III) did not induce the expression of these genes in colon microbes. These data suggest that the selective effect of As(III) on colon microbiota was not due to direct exposure of colon microbes to As(III), but rather a response to changes in the host physiology. Since arsenic affects the NO levels in human cell lines, it was hypothesized that As(III) will affect the pathways that are linked to NO levels in human body. Many microbes present in human body have nitrogen metabolizing genes (nrfA) that contribute to NO levels, thus the expression levels of nrfA gene in colon microbes was examined. Real time RT-qPCR studies showed a time and dose dependent increase in nrfA expression in response to As(III) exposure. Together, the results presented in this study demonstrated an indirect effect of As(III) on the composition and physiology of murine colon microbiota that may further impact the host health. v DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my Grandpa who had great belief in me. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank my dissertation advisor Dr. John F. Stolz for his guidance, patience, encouragement and later on independence to move this project forward. Dr. Stolz’s mentorship has helped me immensely to grow into a confident researcher. I would like to thank my dissertation committee members Dr. Nancy Trun, Dr. David Lampe and Dr. Aaron Barchowsky for giving me valuable suggestions that helped me in broadening my scientific knowledge. I am thankful to Dr. Peter Castric for his time and suggestions given to me for this project. I would like to thank Dr. Aaron Barchowsky, Dr. Donna stolz and their lab members Linda Klei, Yessica Garcia and Mark Ross for conducting mouse exposure experiments. Many thanks to Bruce Nemzi for helping me with the sequencing of clone libraries. A special thanks to Dr. Nancy Trun, Dr. Michael Seaman, Dr. Elizabeth Dakin, Dr. Brady Porter and Tiffany Czapski for helping me with technical aspects of this project. This work could not have completed without the assistance of various lab aides who have given me continuous supply of autoclaved media and supplies. I am thankful to Dr. Partha Basu for his useful comments given during our lab group meetings. I am thankful to the esteem faculty at Department of Biological Sciences. Their course work and guidance has helped me in completion of this program. Thanks to Phil, Pam and Judy for their help during all these years. I appreciate the help I have received from all the past and present members of Stolz and Basu group during my stay at Duquesne. vii I would like to thank my parents, sister, brother, in laws and friends for their continuous support. Words cannot justify the support I have received from my husband in day to day life. I take this as an opportunity to thank him for all the love, understanding and encouragement without which I would not have been able to reach this platform. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... xviiii Chapter 1 : INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Arsenic Background.................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Arsenic in the environment ....................................................................................... 2 1.3 Microbes mediated arsenic cycling ........................................................................... 3 1.4 Routes of arsenic exposure ..................................................................................... 10 1.5 Fate of arsenic in humans ....................................................................................... 14 1.6 Mechanism of arsenic toxicity and human health................................................... 20 1.7 Mammalian GI tract microbiome............................................................................ 24 1.8 Role of intestinal microbiota in health and disease ................................................ 26 1.9 Predominant microbes in mammalian colon ........................................................... 31 1.10 Role of gut microbes in Nitric oxide (NO) generation ......................................... 35 1.11 Overview of specific aims and hypothesis............................................................ 38 ix Chapter 2 : MATERIALS AND METHODS ................................................................... 40 2.1 Mice exposure ......................................................................................................... 40 2.2 DNA extraction ....................................................................................................... 40 2.3 Ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (RISA) ........................................................ 41 2.4 Dendrogram analysis .............................................................................................. 43 2.5 Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) .................................... 44 2.6 Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)................................................... 45 2.7 Clone library Construction ...................................................................................... 47 2.8 Sequence analysis ................................................................................................... 49 2.9 Phylogenetic analysis and