Project description:The gut microbiome consists of trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that inhabit the digestive tract. These communities are sensitive to disruption from environmental exposures ranging from diet changes to illness. Disruption of the community of lactic acid producing bacteria, Lactobaccillacea, has been well documented in mood disorders and stress exposure. In fact, oral supplement with many Lactobacillus species can ameliorate these effects, preventing depression- and anxiety-like behavior. Here, we utilize a gnotobiotic mouse colonized with the Altered Schaedler Flora to remove the two native species of Lactobaccillacea. Using this novel microbial community, we found that the Lactobacillus species themselves, and not the disrupted microbial communities are protective from environmental stressors. Further, we determine that Lactobaccillacea are maintaining homeostatic IFNγ levels which are mediating these behavioral and circuit level responses. By utilizing the Altered Schaedler Flora, we have gained new insight into how probiotics influence behavior and provide novel methods to study potential therapies to treat mood disorders.
Project description:There are 10 mice in the experiment, named REC. The mice were fed with high salt diets (5% NaCl) for 4 weeks and then fed with normal salt diets for 4 weeks. Then extracted DNA from mice gastric flora to detect changes in the gastric flora of mice.
Project description:Although microbiota plays a critical role for the normal development and function of host immune systems, the detail of the influence, especially on those in the large intestine (LI), remains unknown. Here, we performed transcriptome analysis using Affymetrix GeneChip on LI of germ-free (GF) and specific pathogen free (SPF) mice of IQI, an inbred strain established from ICR. Keywords: comparison of the mice with or without enteric flora