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janrinok writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Spontaneous contractions of the digestive tract play an important role in almost all animals, and ensure healthy bowel functions. From simple invertebrates to humans, there are consistently similar patterns of movement, through which rhythmic contractions of the muscles facilitate the transport and mixing of the bowel contents.

These contractions, known as peristalsis, are essential for the digestive process. With various diseases of the digestive tract, such as severe inflammatory bowel diseases in humans, there are disruptions to the normal peristalsis.

To date, very little research has explored the factors underlying the control of these contractions. Now, for the first time, a research team from the Cell and Developmental Biology (Bosch AG) working group at the Zoological Institute at Kiel University (CAU) has been able to prove that the bacterial colonisation of the intestine plays an important role in controlling peristaltic functions.

The scientists published their results yesterday - derived from the example of freshwater polyps Hydra - in the latest issue of Scientific Reports.

Andrea P. Murillo-Rincón, Alexander Klimovich, Eileen Pemöller, Jan Taubenheim, Benedikt Mortzfeld, René Augustin & Thomas C.G. Bosch (2017): "Spontaneous body contractions are modulated by the microbiome of Hydra". Scientific Reports, Published on 21.11.2017, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16191-x

Original Submission