Microbiome ownership for Indigenous peoples.

Several studies have reported increased microbial diversity, or distinct microbial community compositions, in the microbiomes of Indigenous peoples around the world. However, there is a widespread failure to include Indigenous cultures and perspectives in microbiome research programmes, and ethical issues pertaining to microbiome research involving Indigenous participants have not received enough attention. We discuss the benefits and risks arising from microbiome research involving Indigenous peoples and analyse microbiome ownership as an ethical concept in this context. We argue that microbiome ownership represents an opportunity for Indigenous peoples to steward and protect their resident microbial communities at every stage of research.

A relational framework for microbiome research with Indigenous communities.

Ethical practices in human microbiome research have failed to keep pace with scientific advances in the field. Researchers seeking to 'preserve' microbial species associated with Indigenous groups, but absent from industrialized populations, have largely failed to include Indigenous people in knowledge co-production or benefit, perpetuating a legacy of intellectual and material extraction. We propose a framework centred on relationality among Indigenous peoples, researchers and microbes, to guide ethical microbiome research. Our framework centres accountability to flatten historical power imbalances that favour researcher perspectives and interests to provide space for Indigenous worldviews in pursuit of Indigenous research sovereignty. Ethical inclusion of Indigenous communities in microbiome research can provide health benefits for all populations and reinforce mutually beneficial partnerships between researchers and the public.

The plant host environment influences competitive interactions between bacterial pathogens.

Bacteria compete for resources in diverse environments using an array of antagonistic strategies, including the production of narrow-spectrum protein antibacterials termed bacteriocins. Although significant research has focused on bacteriocin-mediated dynamics in culture environments, little research has explored bacteriocin-mediated dynamics within a host context, particularly in plant environments. Here, we show that a bacterial plant pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Psy), expresses a bacteriocin both in culture and in leaf apoplast when co-inoculated with a bacteriocin-sensitive competitor, P. syringae pv. phaseolicola (Pph). Although there is an observable negative effect of the bacteriocin on the Pph population at most time points both in culture and in the leaf apoplast, a bacteriocin-mediated benefit to Psy was only observed when the producing strain was co-infiltrated at a low population frequency (1:9) into the leaf apoplast. At 6 days post-infiltration, Psy achieved an eightfold population increase compared to a bacteriocin-deficient mutant in the apoplast. No bacteriocin-mediated benefit for Psy was observed under the culture conditions tested. Additionally, we found that the bacteriocin-mediated benefit for Psy was dependent on the Type III Secretion System. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the fitness benefit of bacteriocin-mediated antagonism is influenced by interactions within the host plant.