Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Trillions of microbial oscillators reside throughout the mammalian body, yet their contributions toward fundamental features of host circadian rhythms (CRs) have not been characterized. Here, we demonstrate that the microbiome contributes to host CRs in activity and thermoregulation. Mice devoid of microbes (germ-free, GF) exhibited higher-amplitude CRs in a light-dark cycle and longer circadian periods in constant darkness. Circadian entrainment to food was greater in GF mice, but resetting responses to simulated jet-lag were unaffected. Microbial transplantation with cecal contents of conventionally-raised mice normalized CRs of GF mice, indicating that the concurrent activity of gut microbes modulates host circadian networks. Obesogenic effects of high-fat diet were absent in GF mice, but some circadian-disruptive effects persisted. Transkingdom (host-microbe) interactions affect circadian period and entrainment of CRs in diverse traits, and microbes alter interactions among light- and food-entrainable circadian processes in the face of environmental (light, diet) perturbations.
Source: Scientific Reports
Institutions: University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Chicago
Language: English
Subfield: Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,190
Awards: G1652852202, Medical Scientist National Research Service Award, G3351119219, Conceptual and mechanistic insights into the development of diet-induced obesity through disruption of hepatic circadian rhythms by the gut microbiome, Diurnal Oscillations in Gut Microbes and Host Immunity in Health and Obesity, Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Inflammatory Intestinal DIsorders (C-IID)
OpenAlex ID: W4293037192