Genetic differences in the immune system shape the collections of bacteria that colonize the digestive system, according to new research by scientists at the University of Chicago.
In carefully controlled experiments using germ-free mice populated with microbes from conventionally raised mice, the researchers showed that while the makeup of the microbial input largely determined the resulting microbiome of the recipients, genetic differences between strains of mice played a role as well.
“When the input is standardized, you can compare mice of different genetic strains and see what these genetics do to the microbiome in recipient mice,” said microbiome researcher Alexander Chervonsky, MD, Ph.D., a senior author of the new study, published in Cell Reports. “This approach allowed us to tell whether there was a genetic influence, and indeed there is. So, the next question was what mechanisms are involved?”
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