We have previously provided the first evidence that the microbiota modulates the physiology of the olfactory epithelium using germfree mice. The extent to which changes to the olfactory system depend on the microbiota is still unknown. In the present work, we explored if different microbiota would differentially impact olfaction. We therefore studied the olfactory function of three groups of mice of the same genetic background, whose parents had been conventionalized before mating with microbiota from three different mouse strains. Caecal short chain fatty acids profiles and 16S rRNA gene sequencing ascertained that gut microbiota differed between the three groups. We then used a behavioural test to measure the attractiveness of various odorants and observed that the three groups of mice differed in their attraction towards odorants. Their olfactory epithelium properties, including electrophysiological responses recorded by electro-olfactograms and expression of genes related to the olfactory transduction pathway, also showed several differences. Overall, our data demonstrate that differences in gut microbiota profiles are associated with differences in olfactory preferences and in olfactory epithelium functioning.

中文翻译：

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嗅觉上皮中气味检测的第一步和嗅觉偏好根据小鼠中的微生物群特征而有所不同。

我们以前已经提供了第一个证据，即使用无菌小鼠的微生物群可调节嗅觉上皮的生理。嗅觉系统变化取决于微生物群的程度仍然未知。在目前的工作中，我们探讨了不同的微生物群是否会不同程度地影响嗅觉。因此，我们研究了三组具有相同遗传背景的小鼠的嗅觉功能，这些小鼠的父母在与三种不同小鼠品系的微生物群落交配之前已经习惯了。盲肠短链脂肪酸谱和16S rRNA基因测序确定了三组之间的肠道菌群不同。然后，我们使用行为测试来测量各种气味的吸引力，并观察到这三组小鼠对气味的吸引力有所不同。它们的嗅觉上皮特性，包括通过电子嗅觉图记录的电生理反应以及与嗅觉转导途径相关的基因的表达，也表现出一些差异。总体而言，我们的数据表明肠道菌群谱的差异与嗅觉偏好和嗅觉上皮功能的差异有关。