The Effects of Vitamin A Status on Gut Microbiota Populations
Open Access
Author:
White, Michael David
Area of Honors:
Biology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Margherita Teresa-Anna Cantorna, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Stephen Wade Schaeffer, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
vitamin A microbiota gut flora bacteria DNA extraction DNA isolation
Abstract:
Vitamin A deficiency is a public health concern in many parts of the world and is especially prevalent in Africa and South-East Asia. This deficiency can cause blindness, a compromised immune system, and reduced immune responses. It has also been shown that vitamin A deficient (VAD) mice are unable to clear an enteric infection caused by the murine pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Before studying the effects of vitamin A on gut microbiota, a new protocol was derived in order to isolate DNA from fecal samples obtained from gel-fed mice. Using the standard techniques, low amounts of DNA were extracted from the gel-fed fecal samples. The new protocol increased DNA yield by 1,957%. The study went on to examine the effects of vitamin A status on gut microbiota populations as a potential causal factor for the reduced ability of VAD mice to clear infection. The results indicated no significant change in bacteria populations from the Firmicutes, Bacteroides, Actinobacter, and Gammaproteobacter phyla. There were more total bacterial DNA in A- mice but the result did not reach significance. This thesis was successful in modifying the DNA isolation protocol to increase DNA yields, but did not find any significant effects of vitamin A status on gut microbiota.
