Mus musculus is the classic mammalian model for biomedical research. Despite global efforts to standardize breeding and experimental procedures, the undefined composition and interindividual diversity of the microbiota of laboratory mice remains a limitation. In an attempt to standardize the gut microbiome in preclinical mouse studies, here we report the development of a simplified mouse microbiota composed of 15 strains from 7 of the 20 most prevalent bacterial families representative of the fecal microbiota of C57BL/6J Specific (and Opportunistic) Pathogen-Free (SPF/SOPF) animals and the derivation of a standardized gnotobiotic mouse model called GM15. GM15 recapitulates extensively the functionalities found in the C57BL/6J SOPF microbiota metagenome, and GM15 animals are phenotypically similar to SOPF or SPF animals in two different facilities. They are also less sensitive to the deleterious effects of post-weaning malnutrition. In this work, we show that the GM15 model provides increased reproducibility and robustness of preclinical studies by limiting the confounding effect of fluctuation in microbiota composition, and offers opportunities for research focused on how the microbiota shapes host physiology in health and disease.

BIOASTER Institut de Recherche Technologique 40 avenue Tony Garnier 69007 Lyon France

German Center for Infection Research Partner Site Munich Germany

Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon Université de Lyon Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 Unité Mixte de Recherche 5242 46 Allée d'Italie 69364 Lyon Cedex 07 France

Laboratory of Gnotobiology Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences 54922 Nový Hrádek Czech Republic

Max von Pettenkofer Institute of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich 80336 Munich Germany

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Defined Pig Microbiota with a Potential Protective Effect against Infection with Salmonella Typhimurium

Editorial: Employing Experimental Gnotobiotic Models to Decipher the Host-Microbiota Cross-Talk in Health and Disease