PULSE CONSUMPTION, THE GUT MICROBIOME, AND HUMAN HEALTH: USING PRECLINICAL MODELS TO CONDUCT A PROOF-IN-CONCEPT INVESTIGATIONTHIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE WHETHER PULSE CONSUMPTION INDUCES FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCES IN GUT MORPHOLOGY, GUT BARRIER INTEGRITY, AND/OR METABOLIC PROCESSES (ENDOTOXEMIA AND INFLAMMATION) THAT IMPACT HEALTH RELATED OUTCOMES, SUCH AS FATTY LIVER DISEASES, OBESITY. TYPE-2 DIABETES, AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IS THE FOCUS OF THE WORK PROPOSED IN THIS APPLICATION. AIM 1. DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF PULSE CONSUMPTION ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF MICROORGANISMS WITHIN MULTIPLE INTESTINAL COMPARTMENTS, I.E., IN THE LUMEN, BIOFILM ADHERING MUCOUS LAYER, AND ENTEROCYTES, IN ILEUM COLON AND IN STOOL. THERE IS LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF A SPECIFIC TYPE OF FOOD ON INTERRELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THESE COMPARTMENTS ACROSS INTESTINAL SEGMENTS. AIM 2. EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF PULSE CONSUMPTION ON THE META-METABOLOME (I.E., THE METABOLITES PRODUCED BY THE MICROBIOME) AND THE HOST'S METABOLOME. EMERGING EVIDENCE SHOWS A LARGE LIBRARY OF COMPOUNDS IS PRODUCED BY THE GUT MICROBIOME. IDENTIFICATION OF THE COMPOUNDS PRODUCED BY THE PULSE-ASSOCIATED MICROBIOME AND HOW THAT CORRESPONDS WITH CHANGES IN THE HOST METABOLOME WILL BE UNDERTAKEN. AIM 3. INVESTIGATE WHETHER PULSES ALTER GUT FUNCTIONALITY: BARRIER INTEGRITY AND ENDOTOXEMIA / INFLAMMATION. A THIRD AREA OF THE FOOD-FIBER-GUT HEALTH FIELD THAT HAS RECEIVED LIMITED ATTENTION IS THE IDENTIFICATION OF HOST FUNCTIONS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY THE INTERACTION OF THE HOST WITH THE MICROBIOME AND THE PRODUCTS OF ITS METABOLISM. BARRIER INTEGRITY (TIGHT JUNCTIONS AND FITC-DEXTRAN UPTAKE) AND LOCAL AND SYSTEMIC EVIDENCE OF EFFECTS OF PULSE CONSUMPTION ON ENDOTOXEMIA AND INFLAMMATION WILL BE ASSESSED.