BENEFICIAL stomach bugs not only help mice digest their food, they are also essential for normal development of their gut.
When researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis raised microbe-free mice in isolation chambers they found that their intestinal blood vessels failed to mature fully after birth. But mice injected with gut microbes developed a normal blood supply within 10 days (
Symbiotic bacteria that inhabit the roots of leguminous plants are necessary for development of the nodules that house them. But examples from mammals are rare. The results reveal the role of bacteria in shaping the gut, says team leader Jeffrey Gordon. "We have to think of our microbes as well as ourselves," he adds.
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