Host genetic determinants of the gut microbiota of wild mice.

ABSTRACT: Identifying a common set of genes that mediate host-microbial interactions across populations and species of mammals has broad relevance for human health and animal biology. However, the genetic basis of the gut microbial composition in natural populations remains largely unknown outside of humans. Here, we used wild house mouse populations as a model system to ask three major questions: (a) Does host genetic relatedness explain interindividual variation in gut microbial composition? (b) Do population differences in the microbiota persist in a common environment? (c) What are the host genes associated with microbial richness and the relative abundance of bacterial genera? We found that host genetic distance is a strong predictor of the gut microbial composition as characterized by 16S ampl

SUBMITTER: Suzuki TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6660988 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature