title: A model of host-microbial interactions in an open mammalian ecosystem.
abstract: The maintenance and significance of the complex populations of microbes present in the mammalian intestine are poorly understood. Comparison of conventionally housed and germ-free NMRI mice revealed that production of fucosylated glycoconjugates and an alpha1, 2-fucosyltransferase messenger RNA in the small-intestinal epithelium requires the normal microflora. Colonization of germ-free mice with Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a component of this flora, restored the fucosylation program, whereas an isogenic strain carrying a transposon insertion that disrupts its ability to use L-fucose as a carbon source did not. Simplified models such as this should aid the study of open microbial ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bry
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Midtvedt
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D017753:Ecosystem; D005643:Fucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D005647:Fucosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D006001:Glycoconjugates / Q000378:metabolism*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D000097631:Galactoside 2-alpha-L-fucosyltransferase
chemical_list: D005643:Fucose; D005647:Fucosyltransferases; D006001:Glycoconjugates; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000097631:Galactoside 2-alpha-L-fucosyltransferase