Detailed Description
Overview
The critical contribution of microbiota to animal, plant and environmental health is now widely accepted. Progress has been driven by two parallel approaches: in silico analyses of large -omics data sets and experimental characterization of host-microbe interactions. Recent advances in computational approaches including metagenomics and multibiome dataset integration are transforming understanding of microbiota composition and dynamics. Simultaneously, genetically tractable zebrafish have emerged as a powerful alternative to rodent models for sophisticated imaging-based characterisation of dynamic host-microbe relationships.
This Practical Course is designed to give participants a comprehensive exposure to these cutting-edge approaches. They will learn how to sample, sequence, assemble and interpret metagenomes, quantify the host responses they elicit and study the evolution of their constituent taxa and host co-evolution - using a range of genomic, comparative genomic and phylogenetic methods. Concurrently, they will learn how to characterise the impacts of core members of the bacterial microbiome on metabolic signalling in zebrafish and determine the effects of modified bacterial communities on lipid metabolism using state of the art imaging. This combination of approaches will give participants a unique opportunity to advance their skills in a field of growing biological and medical relevance.
