Towards the generation of gnotobiotic larvae as a tool to investigate the influence of the microbiome on the development of the amphibian immune system.

ABSTRACT: The immune equilibrium model suggests that exposure to microbes during early life primes immune responses for pathogen exposure later in life. While recent studies using a range of gnotobiotic (germ-free) model organisms offer support for this theory, we currently lack a tractable model system for investigating the influence of the microbiome on immune system development. Here, we used an amphibian species (Xenopus laevis) to investigate the importance of the microbiome in larval development and susceptibility to infectious disease later in life. We found that experimental reductions of the microbiome during embryonic and larval stages effectively reduced microbial richness, diversity and altered community composition in tadpoles prior to metamorphosis. In addition, our antimicrobia

SUBMITTER: Miller AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10258664 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature