My Work at a Glance
Host – Microbe Evolution
I find the evolution between hosts and their microbial communities fascinating. I have done work investigating the influence of host and microbe genotypes on colonization and how evolution and phylogeny may shape the microbiota of insect pollinators.
Host Immunity and the Microbiota
I am also interested in how hosts may filter and select their microbial communities, but also potentially disrupt them. I have done work examining the role of the bumble bee immune response in determining microbial colonization and have found that host immunity perturbs associations between beneficial microbial community members. Additional follow-up work is planned with undergraduate honors students in the Sadd Lab.
Microbe – Microbe Interactions
I find that the emergent properties of microbial communities are an exciting avenue for microbiota research. The ability for interactions between species to influence host health in a way we could not predict from studying the species in isolation is exciting. I am currently investigating how priority effects may influence the microbiota colonization and functionality.
Publications
Rittinger, M. A., Bowden, R. M., Sauers, L. A., Paitz, R. T., Poppe, C. J., Thompson, C. F., Sakaluk, S. K. 2022. Sex-specific effects of hatching order on nestling baseline corticosterone in a wild songbird. Gen. Comp. Endocrin. 319:113964.
Sauers, L. A., Hawes, K., and Juliano, S. A. 2022. Non-linear relationship between density and demographic traits of Aedes. Sci. Rep.
Sauers, L. A. and Sadd, B. M. 2019. An interaction between host and microbe genotypes determines colonization success of a key bumble bee gut microbiota member. Evolution. 73:2333-2342.
Submitted
Li, J.*, Zhuang, D.*, Sauers, L. A.*, Ren, H., Guo, J., Wang, L., Zhuang, M., Guo, Y., Zhang, Z., Wu, J., Yao, J., Yang, H., Wang, C., Lin, Q., Sadd, B. M., Zhang, Z. Divergence and convergence of the gut microbiomes of wild insect pollinators. Microbiome. *Equal first author contributions
In Preparation
Li, J.*, Sauers, L. A.*, Sadd, B. M. Multi-omics reveal gut microbiome and metabolic changes associated with bumble bee queen life history. *Equal first author contributions
Sierra-Rivera, B., Sauers, L. A., Sadd, B. M. Trypanosome infection disturbs the gut microbiota of bumble bee hosts.
Sauers, L. A., Bassingwaithe, T., Sierra-Rivera, B., Sadd, B. M. Perturbation of the native gut microbiota of bumble bees upon stimulation of innate immunity.
Sauers, L. A., Williams, M., Sierra-Rivera, B., Sadd, B. M. Examining the extent of colonization specificity between bumble bee species and a core gut microbiota member.