Stressor exposure disrupts commensal microbial populations in the intestines and leads to increased colonization by Citrobacter rodentium.

ABSTRACT: The gastrointestinal tract is colonized by an enormous array of microbes that are known to have many beneficial effects on the host. Previous studies have indicated that stressor exposure can disrupt the stability of the intestinal microbiota, but the extent of these changes, as well as the effects on enteric infection, has not been well characterized. In order to examine the ability of stressors to induce changes in the gut microbiota, we exposed mice to a prolonged restraint stressor and then characterized microbial populations in the intestines using both traditional culture techniques and bacterial tag-encoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing (bTEFAP). Exposure to the stressor led to an overgrowth of facultatively anaerobic microbiota while at the same time significantly reducing microbial

SUBMITTER: Bailey MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2849416 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature