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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Mar 19.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2013 Aug 18;501(7467):426–429. doi: 10.1038/nature12447

Figure 1. Bacteroides species occupy species-specific niches in the gut via an evolutionarily conserved genetic locus.

Figure 1

a-c, Germ-free mice were mono-associated with B. fragilis and challenged orally with (a) B. thetaiotaomicron; (b) B. vulgatus; or (c) B. fragilis. d, Mice were mono-associated with erythromycin sensitive B. fragilis, and subsequently challenged with erythromycin resistant B. fragilis. Erythromycin was administered where indicated. e, Genomic organization of the ccf locus. f, Mice were mono-associated with either WT B. fragilis, mutant strains deleted in ccfC, ccfD, ccfE and ccfC-E (BFΔCCF), or complemented strain (BFΔCCF∷CCF) and challenged with WT B. fragilis. CFUs were determined after 30 days. g, Mice were mono-associated with WT B. vulgatus or a mutant strain deleted in ccfC-E genes (BVΔCCF), and challenged with WTB. vulgatus. CFUs were determined after 30 days. In all sequential colonization studies, results are representative of at least 2 independent trials (n=3-4 animals/group). h, Cross-colonization between WT B. fragilis and BFΔCCF mono-associated mice at 7 days after encounter measured by CFUs of the initially colonizing and the horizontally transmitted (challenge) strains. (n=2 animals/encounter, 5 independent trials). All graphs: Dashed line indicates the limit of detection at 100 CFU/g feces, and error bars indicate standard deviation (SD).