C. elegans and its bacterial diet: An interspecies model to explore the effects of microbiota on drug response

Our body is inhabited by a large community of microorganisms referred to as our microbiota that influences almost all aspects of human physiology, including the response to thereapeutic drugs. Drugs can affect microbiota composition and the microbiota can modulate the drug response in the host. A major challenge is to determine which bacteria affect the response to which drugs, and to elucidate the mechanisms involved. Here, we discuss the emergence of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and its bacterial diet as an interspecies model system with which the effects of bacteria on the drug response in the host can be studied both at broad systems and at deep mechanistic levels. We will discuss the strengths and limitations of this system and will present future perspectives.