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The function of Toll-like receptor 2 in control of transcriptome responses to the microbiome and microbiome composition

Li Liu,H. Spaink

Published 2026 in Animal Microbiome

ABSTRACT

Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) plays a pivotal role in innate immunity and has recently emerged as a critical regulator of host-microbiome interactions. However, how TLR2 influences host transcriptional responses to colonized microbiome and microbial community dynamics remains largely unclear. A comparison between germ free (GF) and conventionalized zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae provides a valuable system to investigate how the microbiome influences host transcriptomic responses in a tlr2 mutant versus wild-type control. Vice versa, to understand the role of Tlr2 in regulating the microbiome, we have analyzed microbial community composition in both tlr2 mutant and wild-type zebrafish at larval and adult stages. RNAseq analysis revealed that approximately 2.6% of the zebrafish genome (827 genes) exhibited transcriptomic alterations in tlr2 mutant larvae compared to the wild type under microbiome-colonized conditions, whereas around 2% of the genome (639 genes) showed differential expression under GF conditions. KEGG enrichment analyses show that under both microbiome-colonized and GF conditions major differences between the tlr2 mutant and wild type are related to metabolism. Furthermore, there is a striking difference in endoplasmic reticulum stress responses, including well-known markers for inflammatory bowel disease which are all downregulated in the mutant under the microbiome-colonized condition. Microbiome colonization elicited a broader transcriptional response in tlr2 wild-type larvae than in the mutant, with specifically the ferroptosis, apoptosis and inflammation related pathways differently regulated. In terms of how Tlr2 influences microbial composition, 16 S rRNA gene sequencing showed large differences in beta diversity between the tlr2 mutant and wild type. The tlr2 mutant exhibited higher microbial alpha diversity during early development, whereas alpha diversity was higher in wild-type adults. For larvae at the genus level, tlr2 mutant larvae showed increased Chryseobacterium and Flectobacillus but reduced Gracilibacteria abundance relative to wild-type controls. For adult gut samples, the relative abundance of Cetobacterium was higher in the tlr2 mutants, indicating a developmental stage-specific restructuring of the microbiome. TLR2 not only modulates host transcriptional responses to microbial colonization, but also shapes gut microbial diversity, composition, and metabolic potential. Our findings highlight the critical role of TLR2 in orchestrating immune-metabolic homeostasis and provide new insights into its broader function in maintaining host-microbiota symbiosis across developmental stages.

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