PUBLICATION

Bacteria from Diverse Habitats Colonize and Compete in the Mouse Gut

Authors
Seedorf, H., Griffin, N.W., Ridaura, V.K., Reyes, A., Cheng, J., Rey, F.E., Smith, M.I., Simon, G.M., Scheffrahn, R.H., Woebken, D., Spormann, A.M., Van Treuren, W., Ursell, L.K., Pirrung, M., Robbins-Pianka, A., Cantarel, B.L., Lombard, V., Henrissat, B., Knight, R., Gordon, J.I.
ID
ZDB-PUB-141007-5
Date
2014
Source
Cell   159(2): 253-66 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Gordon, Jeffrey I., Knight, Robert
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Bacteria/classification*
  • Bacteria/growth & development*
  • Bacteria/metabolism
  • Ecosystem
  • Estuaries
  • Gastrointestinal Tract/microbiology*
  • Germ-Free Life
  • Humans
  • Isoptera/microbiology
  • Mice/microbiology*
  • Microbial Interactions
  • Skin/microbiology
  • Soil Microbiology
  • Symbiosis
  • Tongue/microbiology
  • Zebrafish/microbiology
PubMed
25284151 Full text @ Cell
Abstract
To study how microbes establish themselves in a mammalian gut environment, we colonized germ-free mice with microbial communities from human, zebrafish, and termite guts, human skin and tongue, soil, and estuarine microbial mats. Bacteria from these foreign environments colonized and persisted in the mouse gut; their capacity to metabolize dietary and host carbohydrates and bile acids correlated with colonization success. Cohousing mice harboring these xenomicrobiota or a mouse cecal microbiota, along with germ-free "bystanders," revealed the success of particular bacterial taxa in invading guts with established communities and empty gut habitats. Unanticipated patterns of ecological succession were observed; for example, a soil-derived bacterium dominated even in the presence of bacteria from other gut communities (zebrafish and termite), and human-derived bacteria colonized germ-free bystander mice before mouse-derived organisms. This approach can be generalized to address a variety of mechanistic questions about succession, including succession in the context of microbiota-directed therapeutics.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping