Tannock Lab Research
Research Overview
The gut of vertebrates is home to a bacterial collection of amazing biodiversity. For example, several hundred bacterial species live together in the human colon where they form a self-regulating community. The community is often referred to as the ‘microbiota’. Obligately anaerobic bacteria predominate in the colonic microbiota. They hydrolyze plant residues from the diet that have not been digested in the small intestine. So, the gut microbiota begins the recycling of dietary waste inside the colon by degrading plant polymers and fermenting the hydrolysis products to short chain fatty acids. These fatty acids provide a source of calories for the human because they are taken up by the intestinal mucosa and incorporated into biochemical pathways. Members of the microbiota also recycle human secretions, such as mucus.Our research objectives are to understand how the members of the microbiota (referred to as commensals) live in the gut, and the consequences to the host of this life-long association with these bacteria.
Research Projects
How infant nutrition affects the gut microbiota.The impact of neonatal diet (breast milk or various infant formulas) on the composition of the faecal microbiota of infants. High throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes to determine community compositions. Physiological experiments with commensals in continuous culture. Modeling bowel communities. Food webs and food chains.
Scanning electron micrograph of cultured bifidobacterial cells.
Recent Publications
Young W, Roy NC, Lee J, Lawley B, Otter D, Henderson G, McCann MJ, Tannock GW.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2012 Sep;78(18):6656-64. Epub 2012 Jul 13.
Wilson CM, Aggio RB, O'Toole PW, Villas-Boas S, Tannock GW.
J Bacteriol. 2012 Apr;194(7):1743-6. Epub 2012 Jan 27.
Tannock GW, Lawley B, Munro K, Lay C, Taylor C, Daynes C, Baladjay L, Mcleod R, Thompson-Fawcett M.
Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2012 May;18(5):925-34. doi: 10.1002/ibd.21936. Epub 2011 Nov 23.
Resource partitioning in relation to cohabitation of Lactobacillus species in the mouse forestomach.
Tannock GW, Wilson CM, Loach D, Cook GM, Eason J, O'Toole PW, Holtrop G, Lawley B.
ISME J. 2012 May;6(5):927-38. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2011.161. Epub 2011 Nov 17.
Gore C, Custovic A, Tannock GW, Munro K, Kerry G, Johnson K, Peterson C, Morris J, Chaloner C, Murray CS, Woodcock A.
Clin Exp Allergy. 2012 Jan;42(1):112-22. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2011.03885.x. Epub 2011 Oct 18.
The evolution of host specialization in the vertebrate gut symbiont Lactobacillus reuteri.
Frese SA, Benson AK, Tannock GW, Loach DM, Kim J, Zhang M, Oh PL, Heng NC, Patil PB, Juge N, Mackenzie DA, Pearson BM, Lapidus A, Dalin E, Tice H, Goltsman E, Land M, Hauser L, Ivanova N, Kyrpides NC, Walter J.
PLoS Genet. 2011 Feb;7(2):e1001314. Epub 2011 Feb 17.
Structure and functions of exopolysaccharide produced by gut commensal Lactobacillus reuteri 100-23.
Sims IM, Frese SA, Walter J, Loach D, Wilson M, Appleyard K, Eason J, Livingston M, Baird M, Cook G, Tannock GW.
ISME J. 2011 Jul;5(7):1115-24. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2010.201. Epub 2011 Jan 20.
Postgraduate students
Siva Gowri Pathmanathan (Gowri): PhD; cell signaling in epithelial cells in response to exposure to commensal bacteria. Commenced 2010.
Scientific Officer
Blair Lawley
Postdoctoral Fellow
Scott Ferguson
Sabbatical visitor
Jun Watanabe