Pathogenicity and virulence regulation of Vibrio cholerae at the interface of host-gut microbiome interactions

The Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae is responsible for the severe diarrheal pandemic disease cholera, representing a major global public health concern. This pathogen transitions from aquatic reservoirs into epidemics in human populations, and has evolved numerous mechanisms to sense this transition in order to appropriately regulate its gene expression for infection. At the intersection of pathogen and host in the gastrointestinal tract lies the community of native gut microbes, the gut microbiome. It is increasingly clear that the diversity of species and biochemical activities within the gut microbiome represents a driver of infection outcome, through their ability to manipulate the signals used by V. cholerae to regulate virulence and fitness in vivo. A better mechanistic understanding of how commensal microbial action interacts with V. cholerae pathogenesis may lead to novel prophylactic and therapeutic interventions for cholera. Here, we review a subset of this burgeoning field of research.