Helen Beilinson Lietuvninkas

Cohousing or cross-fostering followed by cohousing does not normalize the microbiomes of genetically distinct adult mice Lietuvninkas et al. use state-of-the-art gnotobiotic approaches to investigate whether cohousing or cross-fostering overpower the role of genetics in shaping the fecal bacterial commensal population. While cohousing normalizes the microbiomes of syngeneic mice, neither cohousing nor cross-fostering followed by cohousing normalizes the microbiomes of adult genetically distinct mouse strains.

Cohousing or cross-fostering followed by cohousing does not normalize the microbiomes of genetically distinct adult mice

@uocmicrobiology.bsky.social @uchicagocoi.bsky.social

We hope these findings demonstrate that microbiome normalization between strains of mice during cohousing and cross-fostering cannot be assumed and must be verified by sequencing.

The extent of genetic influence depends on which genes are polymorphic between the strains, which we discuss in the paper! For example, a polymorphic single gene (we use WT and RAG1-deficient BALB/c mice as an example) may be insufficient to prevent normalization.

By using SPF and ex-germ-free adult and neonatal models, we show that this influence of genetics on shaping the fecal microbiome cannot be overcome by two widely used methods of “normalizing” microbe composition.

Polymorphic Immune Mechanisms Regulate Commensal Repertoire The importance of polymorphic genes in shaping commensal repertoire is unclear. Khan et al. use genetically different GF mice transferred with identical microbiotas to show that polymorphism in both i...

The Golovkina & Chervonsky labs previously showed that genetics shape the overall fecal microbiome by giving genetically distinct strains of germ free mice the same microbiome input and seeing different outputs: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Cohousing or cross-fostering followed by cohousing does not normalize the microbiomes of genetically distinct adult mice Lietuvninkas et al. use state-of-the-art gnotobiotic approaches to investigate whether cohousing or cross-fostering overpower the role of genetics in shaping the fecal bacterial commensal population. ...

I’m excited to share our latest work! We challenge the widely thought notion that cohousing and cross-fostering can normalize the microbiomes of genetically distinct mice: www.cell.com/cell-reports... 🐁🦠🧬

Would love to be added, thank you!

I would love to be added!

Can I please be added? Thanks! 🧬

Figured it was time to introduce myself! I’m a postdoc at UChicago using computational and classic genetic techniques to identify mechanisms underlying the differences in host-pathogen and host-commensal phenotypes in different inbred mouse lines! 🧬🐁🦠💻