Human Microbiota-Associated Mice: A Model with Challenges Marie-Claire Arrieta, Jens Walter, B. Brett Finlay  Cell Host & Microbe  Volume 19, Issue 5, Pages 575-578 (May 2016) DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.04.014 Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Specificity between Intestinal Microbial Communities and the Host Given the genetic, behavioral, physiological, and anatomical differences between host species, engraftment of fecal microbial communities from human feces into germ-free mice (HMA) results in only a partial resemblance to the donor microbiota, favoring those phylotypes adapted to the donor species. The microbial dysbiosis known to occur in certain pathological states (e.g., obesity) will in most cases experience an ecological shift after engraftment to mice, one that may not be representative of the community associated with the donor’s pathology in study. HMA mice harboring healthy versus disease-associated microbiotas may have compositional dissimilarities, but these may reflect new ecological patterns of the engrafted microbial communities rather than those representative of the pathological state. HMA, human microbiota-associated mice; MMA, murine microbiota-associated mice. Cell Host & Microbe 2016 19, 575-578DOI: (10.1016/j.chom.2016.04.014) Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. Terms and Conditions