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Characterization Of Human Gut Microbiota Dynamics Using Model Communities In Gnotobiotic Mice, Nathaniel Patrick Mcnulty

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The human gut is colonized by a diverse array of microbes, collectively referred to as the microbiota. The microbiota's complexity poses significant challenges in characterizing the rules dictating its assembly, inferring the functional roles of its component species, and understanding how communities sense and respond to changes in their habitat. We developed defined, representative model communities comprised of sequenced human gut bacteria that could be characterized in a highly controlled manner in gnotobiotic mice, plus a suite of scalable molecular tools for assaying community properties. These tools were first used to evaluate how the microbiota is impacted by probiotic bacterial …