Major urinary protein (Mup) gene family deletion drives sex-specific alterations on the house mouse gut microbiota

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Svetlana up on 2025-1-31

study design

laboratory experiment

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

37577672

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1101/2023.08.01.551491

URI

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.03566-23

Authors

Real MVF, Colvin MS, Sheehan MJ, Moeller AH

Journal

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology

Year

2023

The gut microbiota is shaped by host metabolism. In house mice (Mus musculus), major urinary protein (MUP) pheromone production represents a considerable energy investment, particularly in sexually mature males. Deletion of the Mup gene family shifts mouse metabolism towards an anabolic state, marked by lipogenesis, lipid accumulation, and body mass increases. Given the metabolic implications of MUPs, they may also influence the gut microbiota. Here, we investigated the effect of deletion of the Mup gene family on the gut microbiota of sexually mature mice. Shotgun metagenomics revealed distinct taxonomic and functional profiles between wildtype and knockout males, but not females. Deletion of the Mup gene cluster significantly reduced diversity in microbial families and functions in male mice. Additionally, specific taxa of the Ruminococcaceae family, which is associated with gut health and reduced risk of developing metabolic syndrome, and several microbial functions, such as transporters involved in vitamin B5 acquisition, were significantly depleted in the microbiota of Mup-knockout males. Altogether these results show that major urinary proteins significantly affect the gut microbiota of house mouse in a sex-specific manner.

Experiment 1

Edit History Delete

Flag for review

Your review change was submittedDuplicate this Experiment Add a new Signature

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Svetlana up on 2025-1-31

Curated date: 2024/03/19

Curator:

Revision editor(s):

Subjects

Location of subjects: United States of America

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Mus musculus

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Gene deletion library gene knockdown library,Gene repression library,Gene silencing library,Gene deletion library,gene deletion library

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Wild Type Male Mice (WT male)

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Knock Out Male Mice (KO male)

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Knockout male mice refers to laboratory mice whose gene has been genetically engineered to be inactive or "knocked out".