Data from: Microbiota-driven transcriptional changes in prefrontal cortex override genetic differences in social behavior

Gene-environment interactions impact the development of neuropsychiatric
disorders, but the relative contributions are unclear. Here, we identify
gut microbiota as sufficient to induce depressive-like behaviors in
genetically distinct mouse strains. Daily gavage of saline in non-obese
diabetic (NOD) mice induced a social avoidance behavior that was not
observed in C57BL/6 mice. This was not observed in NOD animals with
depleted microbiota via oral administration of antibiotics. Transfer of
intestinal microbiota, including members of the Clostridiales,
Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae, from vehicle-gavaged NOD donors to
microbiota-depleted C57BL/6 recipients was sufficient to induce social
avoidance and change gene expression and myelination in the prefrontal
cortex. Metabolomic analysis identified increased cresol levels in these
mice, and exposure of cultured oligodendrocytes to this metabolite
prevented myelin gene expression and differentiation. Our results thus
demonstrate that the gut microbiota modifies the synthesis of key
metabolites affecting gene expression in the prefrontal cortex, thereby
modulating social behavior.