The mouse gut microbiota responds to predator odor and predicts host behavior

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Neuroscience
• Animal Behavior

Background:

• Chronic stress impacts mammalian gut microbes, influencing host responses.
• The effects of acute stressors on gut microbiota and their interaction with host stress responses are less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of acute predator odor exposure on the gut microbiota and host stress responses in wild-derived mice.
• To determine how acute stressors interact with chronic stress paradigms like social isolation.

Main Methods:

• Experimental exposure of mice to synthetic fox odor and social isolation.
• Behavioral assays, visceral adipose tissue transcriptomics, and metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) analysis.
• Random forest classification to predict host behavior from gut microbiota composition.

Main Results:

• Brief predator odor exposure had a stronger impact on gut microbiota and gene expression than prolonged social isolation.
• Predator odor-responsive bacteria abundances predicted host grooming, social behaviors, and antimicrobial defense gene expression.
• Gut microbiota composition significantly predicted behavioral variation within treatment groups.

Conclusions:

• Acute predator odor exposure alters gut microbial communities in wild-derived mice.
• The gut microbiota plays a significant role in mediating host responses to acute, ecologically relevant stressors like predation threat.