Laboratory mice, while paramount for understanding basic biological phenomena, are limited in modeling complex diseases of humans and other free-living mammals. Because the microbiome is a major factor in mammalian physiology, we aimed to identify a naturally evolved reference microbiome to better recapitulate physiological phenomena relevant in the natural world outside the laboratory. Among 21 distinct mouse populations worldwide, we identified a closely related wild relative to standard laboratory mouse strains. Its bacterial gut microbiome differed significantly from its laboratory mouse counterpart and was transferred to and maintained in laboratory mice over several generations. Laboratory mice reconstituted with natural microbiota exhibited reduced inflammation and increased survival following influenza virus infection and improved resistance against mutagen/inflammation-induced colorectal tumorigenesis. By demonstrating the host fitness-promoting traits of natural microbiota, our findings should enable the discovery of protective mechanisms relevant in the natural world and improve the modeling of complex diseases of free-living mammals. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

中文翻译：

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野生老鼠肠道菌群可促进宿主健康并提高抗病能力。

虽然实验室小鼠对于理解基本的生物学现象至关重要，但在模拟人类和其他自由生活哺乳动物的复杂疾病方面受到限制。由于微生物组是哺乳动物生理学的主要因素，因此我们旨在鉴定一种自然进化的参考微生物组，以更好地概括实验室外与自然界相关的生理现象。在全球21个不同的小鼠种群中，我们确定了相对于标准实验室小鼠品系而言密切相关的野生动物。它的细菌肠道微生物组与实验室小鼠的细菌组显着不同，并且已经转移到实验室小鼠中并保持了几代之久。重组天然微生物菌群的实验小鼠在流感病毒感染后表现出减少的炎症反应和增加的存活率，并增强了对诱变/炎症诱导的结直肠肿瘤发生的抵抗力。通过证明天然微生物群具有促进宿主适应性的特征，我们的发现应能发现与自然界相关的保护机制，并改善自由生活哺乳动物的复杂疾病的模型。视频摘要。