articleEMBO ReportsDec 18, 2014HYBRID OA

The composition of the gut microbiota shapes the colon mucus barrier

University of Gothenburg · Norwegian University of Life Sciences · +2 more institutions

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefdoajpubmed

Abstract

Two C57BL/6 mice colonies maintained in two rooms of the same specific pathogen-free (SPF) facility were found to have different gut microbiota and a mucus phenotype that was specific for each colony. The thickness and growth of the colon mucus were similar in the two colonies. However, one colony had mucus that was impenetrable to bacteria or beads the size of bacteria-which is comparable to what we observed in free-living wild mice-whereas the other colony had an inner mucus layer penetrable to bacteria and beads. The different properties of the mucus depended on the microbiota, as they were transmissible by transfer of caecal microbiota to germ-free mice. Mice with an impenetrable mucus layer had increased…

No related works found for this paper.

Funding