Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The gut environment hosts an impressive number of bacteria and viruses that form stable communities. Several recent studies have shown that changes in these bacterial and viral communities are associated with certain health conditions. Bacteria and viruses also modulate the intestinal immune system in multiple ways, but the mechanisms by which they do this are still poorly understood. It is therefore important to understand how bacteria and their associated viruses interact with each other and how they can affect the physiology and immunology of their host. Most parts of the intestinal tract are generally exempt of oxygen. Consequently, many important gut bacteria cannot grow in the presence of oxygen, which is often toxic to them even in trace amounts. The capacity to grow bacteria and viruses in total absence of oxygen is therefore crucial if we want to investigate their role and impact on intestinal microbial communities and host immunity. The best way to achieve this is by using special cabinets within which the air is tightly controlled with special gases to remove any trace oxygen. These cabinets are equipped with glove ports that allow insertion of the arms inside to manipulate bacteria, without exposing them to lethal oxygen. The research programs currently conducted by the applicants require the daily use of such cabinets to grow bacteria, to isolate and propagate viruses infecting them, and to process fecal samples to isolate specific gut bacteria for which oxygen is highly toxic. The goal of this application is to replace two 12 and 14 years old cabinets that are either broken and not repairable, or heavily worn because of intensive usage for more than a decade. Our old cabinets are the only ones available for research on the health campus at U. Sherbrooke. Therefore, research involving microorganisms that grow only in absence of oxygen totally depends on these cabinets. Failure to replace them will have disastrous consequences on our research programs. It will also heavily impair local and international collaborations that depend on this equipment. Our cabinets allowed training of >50 graduate and undergraduate students as well as research professionals over the last 15 years. It also allowed publication of several research articles in natural sciences and engineering. There are relatively few research groups in Canada that study gut viruses and host innate immunity and the research programs pursued by the applicants are therefore highly important. The research outcome will help resolve fundamental biological questions that will benefit the Canadian population as well as the broader scientific community.