Pouch bacteria: an understudied and potentially important facet of marsupial reproduction
Toby Maidment A * and Raphael Eisenhofer B *A Queensland University of Technology, Centre for Immunology and Infection Control, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, Qld 4001, Australia.
B Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-1353 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Toby Maidment is a research assistant at the Centre for Immunology and Infection Control, Queensland University of Technology. His current research focuses on koala reproductive diseases, host–microbiome interactions in the human FRT, and vaccine development. His major interests include Australian mammal conservation and microbial ecology. |
Dr Raphael Eisenhofer is a postdoctoral researcher at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and an adjunct assistant lecturer at the University of Adelaide. His research interest is studying the microbiomes of native Australian mammals, with the long-term goal of applying microorganisms to improve mammal conservation in Australia. |
Microbiology Australia 44(1) 41-44 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA23010
Submitted: 16 January 2023 Accepted: 10 February 2023 Published: 3 March 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Australia is home to a rich biodiversity of marsupials that are found nowhere else. Unfortunately, many of these species are currently threatened with extinction due to introduced feral predators and other anthropogenic factors. There is growing recognition that host-associated microorganisms can play important roles for animal health, with billions of dollars currently being invested into human gut microbiome research and the development of microbiome-based therapeutics to improve human health. Can microorganisms also be harnessed to stem the tide of marsupial extinctions? In this review, we provide an overview of some of the challenges facing Australia’s marsupials, and our current understanding of the microbiology of the marsupial pouch. We also propose outstanding research questions pertaining to the marsupial pouch, which, if addressed, may provide actionable knowledge and novel microbial therapies that could help stem the tide of marsupial extinctions in Australia.
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