Design, construction, and in vivo augmentation of a complex gut microbiome

Researchers from Stanford University construct and characterize in vitro a defined community of 104 bacterial species composed of the most common taxa from the human gut microbiota (hCom1). They used germ-free mice were colonized with hCom1 and then challenged with a human fecal sample, and identified new species that engrafted following fecal challenge and added them to hCom1, yielding hCom2. In gnotobiotic mice, hCom2 exhibited increased stability to fecal challenge and robust colonization resistance against pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Resource: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.08.003