Mouse_gut_microbiota_transmission_study

Homozygosity for FUT2 ((1,2) fucosyltransferase) null alleles determines the lack of (1,2)fucosylated glycans in the gastrointestinal tract epithelia and secretions. 20% of people of European, Asian and African descent do not present fucose on their mucosae and secretions due to homozygosity for FUT2 null alleles and thus are called non secretors. Non secretors are more susceptible to various diseases like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and type I diabetes and gut microbiota composition seems to be involved in the onset of these non-communicable diseases. FUT2-deficent mice represent a murine model of human non secretor status. We are studying gut microbiota of wt and FUT2 ko mice composition, its transmission to the offspring and genotype-associated changes. 16s libraries from gut microbiome extracted from mouse faecal samples will be generated and sequenced on MiSeq platform.