Gnotobiotic Core Facility

Gnotobiotics is the study of animals in an environment where all microorganisms present are precisely known. Gnotobiotic animals allow for the detailed study of the complex interactions between individual microbes or microbial communities and host physiology and immune responses.

Germ-free mice (gnotobiotic mice harboring no microbes at all) have been instrumental in understanding how microbes contribute to the maturation and function of the immune system and have revealed critical insights into the mechanisms by which microbes influence immune responses and overall health.

Gnotobiotic animal models, including those colonized with individual or communities of microbes, have been used to study the pathophysiology of diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Manipulating the microbiota in these models allows precise investigation of the role of specific microbes in disease etiology and the exploration of potential therapeutic interventions.

Housing gnotobiotic animals is difficult and expensive, so our core enables researchers to access this technology by lowering costs and providing technical expertise.

The University of Utah Gnotobiotics Core was established to support the work of Dr. June Round and has been expanded as a core service operated in collaboration with Dr. Alton Swennes and the Office of Comparative Medicine. Ricky Bell is Director of the Gnotobiotics Core.

The core is equipped with two Nuaire Aria TECH60 biosafety cabinets, 14 large and 16 small isolators (Class Biologically Clean), over 100 IsoCage P bioexclusion cages (Tecniplast), and a dedicated autoclave (Steris). Rooms are dedicated for core use and access is restricted.

The core maintains breeding colonies of germ-free C57BL/6, Rag1-/-, Swiss Webster, T-MyD88-/-, IL17GFP/GFP, and NOD mice. 

The core has been very successful in rederiving mouse strains to germ-free status.