Bärbel Stecher

Abstract The gut microbiota influences host metabolism, but the mechanisms of lipid uptake from food remain mysterious. Here we used stable isotope-labelled tracers in gnotobiotic mouse models, which revealed that host uptake of dietary lipids depends on microbial colonization.

Abstract Microbiomes are complex communities of microorganisms that are essential for biochemical processes on Earth and for the health of humans, animals and plants. Many environmental and host-associated microbiomes are dominated by anaerobic microbes, some of which cannot tolerate oxygen. Anaerobic microbial communities have been extensively studied over the last 20 years using molecular techniques, especially next-generation sequencing.

Abstract Anti-viral immunity can vary tremendously from individual to individual but mechanistic understanding is still scarce. Here, we show that a defined, low complex bacterial community (OMM12) but not the general absence of microbes in germ-free mice leads to a more potent immune response compared to the microbiome of specific-pathogen-free (SPF) mice after a systemic viral infection with LCMV Clone-13.