the quality of the
1 mucus in mice depends on the composition of
2 microbiota, reports a swedish-norwegian team of researchers from the university of gothenburg and the norwegian university of life sciences in oslo. the work, published in embo reports, suggests that bacteria in the gut affect mucus barrier properties in ways that can have implications for health and disease. "
3 similar mice with subtle but stable and transmissible
4 microbiota showed unexpectedly large differences in the inner colon mucus layer. the composition of the gut microbiota has significant effects on mucus properties," says malin e.v. johansson from the university of gothenburg who led the study.
by sequencing the microbiota and examining the 16s ribosomal rna
5, the researchers discovered that two mouse colonies maintained in two different rooms in the same specific pathogen-free facility had different gut microbiota. they also had a mucus structure that was specific for each colony. whereas one colony developed mucus that was not
6 to bacteria, the other colony had an inner mucus layer permeable to bacteria.
each group of mice had a stable population of bacteria that could be
7 transmitted: the group with impenetrable mucus had increased amounts of erysipelotrichi bacteria, while the other group had higher levels of proteobacteria and tm7 bacteria in the distal colon mucus. free-living mice from the forest had mucus similar in composition to that found in mice in the non-penetrable colony. the authors also showed that the
8 composition could be
9 to a small extent through the diet.
"the results from the free-living mice strongly argue for the importance of a well-developed inner mucus layer that
10 separates bacteria from the host epithelium for the overall health of the mice," says johansson.
the different mucus properties were recreated by transplanting the microbial communities into germ-free mice. "after recolonisation of germ-free mice with the different microbiota we observed the same
11 and
12 differences in their mucus properties," added johansson.
mucus is our
13 barrier to our microbiota in the gut. if the mucus fails to offer a protective barrier it can allow more bacteria to come in contact with our epithelium in a way that can trigger colon inflammation. diseases such as ulcerative colitis show an increased incidence in the western world and this study emphasizes the importance of the composition of the microbiota for an impenetrable protective mucus barrier.
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