Variation in the Gut Microbiota of Laboratory Mice Is Related to Both Genetic and Environmental Factors

摘要

Duringrecentyears,thecompositionofthegutmicrobiota(GM)hasreceivedincreasingattentionasafactorinthedevelopmentofexperimentalinflammatorydiseaseinanimalmodels.BecauseincreasedvariationintheGMmightleadtoincreasedvariationindiseaseparameters,determiningandreducingGMvariationbetweenlaboratoryanimalsmayprovidemoreconsistentmodels.BothgeneticandenvironmentalaspectsinfluencethecompositionoftheGMandmayvarybetweenlaboratoryanimalbreedingcentersandwithinanindividualbreedingcenter.Thisstudyinvestigatedthevariationincecalmicrobiotain8-wk-oldNMRIandC57BL/6micebyusingdenaturinggradientgelelectrophoresistoprofilePCR-derivedampliconsfrombacterial16SrRNAgenes.ComparisonofthececalmicrobiotasrevealedthatthesimilarityindexoftheinbredC57BL/6Scastrainwas10%higherthanthatoftheoutbredSca:NMRIstock.ComparingC57BL/6micefrom2vendorsrevealedsignificantdifferencesinthemicrobialprofile,whereastheprofilesofC57BL/6Scamiceraisedinseparateroomswithinthesamebreedingcenterwerenotsignificantlydifferent.Furthermore,housinginindividuallyventilatedcagesdidnotleadtointercagevariation.Theseresultsshowthatdenaturinggradientgelelectrophoresisisasimpletoolthatcanbeusedtocharacterizethegutmicrobiotaofmice.Includingsuchcharacterizationsinfuturequality-controlprogramsmayincreasethereproducibilityofmousestudies.