Gnotobiological research of the host-microflora interaction

The last two decades indicate that one of the main features of modern gnotobiology are comparative experiments on germfree and conventional counterparts to study the significance of normal (or dysbiotic) microflora (or individual species) in various physiological and pathological processes of the host organism. There are some immunological consequences of absence of normal microflora. Interactions between some indigenous and pathogenic bacteria in the intestine of gnotobiotic and conventional rats are discussed.