Host‑Microbe Communication within the GI Tract

The gastrointestinal tract is a biologically diverse and complicated system which carries out essential physiological functions that support human health, while at the same time maintaining itself as an isolated environment to prevent infection and systemic disease. To maintain homeostasis in the gut, communication between the host and residing microbial communities must occur to identify and eliminate potential pathogens which could colonize and cause damage through aggressive pro‑inflammatory responses by the mucosal immune system. To prevent such events, a number of host and bacterial‑mediated mechanisms are utilized to monitor the environment and initiate appropriate immune responses to invading pathogens. An essential component of this communication process between gastrointestinal microflora and the host involves distinguishing indigenous species from pathogens through ligand‑receptor interactions which lead to various signaling events in host cells. Such events generally result in the development of mucosal immunity and immunological tolerance. While these signaling pathways provide a highly effective means of communication between the gut microflora and the host, pathogens have developed mechanisms to manipulate these pathways to evade detection by the immune system to persist and cause disease. These adaptations include cell surface modifications and the expression of various virulence factors in response to different immunological and hormonal components produced by the host.

link...

http://www.landesbioscience.com/curie/chapter/3476/

communication between microflora and host... what happens if we sever or short circuit that communication with things like poor foods, pollutants, food chemicals, and pharmaceuticals like Antibiotics ?

As illustrated in other posts, nutrition absorption decreases, and susceptibility to toxins, including heavy metals, pathogens, parasites, etc. etc. increases...

As posted previously, there is also intracellular communication between colonies of microflora... even colonies of different species... a cooperation and coordination of effort.

I find the "communication" network between microflora, and then microflora and host fascinating...

Here is another illustration...

The rhizosphere is a densely populated area in which plant roots must compete with invading root systems of neighboring plants for space, water, and mineral nutrients, and with other soil-borne organisms, including bacteria and fungi. Root–root and root–microbe communications are continuous occurrences in this biologically active soil zone. How do roots manage to simultaneously communicate with neighboring plants, and with symbiotic and pathogenic organisms within this crowded rhizosphere? Increasing evidence suggests
that root exudates might initiate and manipulate biological and physical interactions between roots and soil organisms, and thus play an active role in root–root and root–microbe communication. Rhizosphere interactions are based on complex exchanges

From:

How plants communicate using the underground information superhighway

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~jvivanco/papers/Trends%20plant%20sci/2004harsh_tr...

Now when people say everything is interconnected to everything else, life is symbiotic, that God is omnipresent... perhaps it will make more sense.

grz-

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