Fig. 4

Colitis in WASP deficiency is associated with breach of the mucus barrier by the intestinal microbiota, and severity of colitis is correlated with the mucosal abundance of ASF457 M. schaedleri. Germ free WT/HET (n=17) and Was^−/− (n = 13) mice were colonized with the ASF community and then gavaged with H. bilis. The mucosal-associated microbiota was assessed at 20 weeks post infection. A Proximal colon sections from representative Was^+/− and Was^−/− mice stained with a universal bacterial probe (EUB338, red), for mucus using the lectin UEA-1 (green), and with DAPI (blue). Distances between epithelial cells and bacteria were quantified for 3 randomly chosen fields of view for each of 5 WT/HET and 4 Was^−/− mice. Each data point represents the average of 10 measurements taken across a field of view. Data shown as mean +/− S.E.M. Statistics done by Welch’s t-test. *** p < 0.001. B Comparison between fecal and mucosal-associated microbiota composition based on 16S rRNA sequencing. Pearson’s correlations between log-transformed fecal LCN2 and mucosal relative abundances of H. bilis (C), ASF457 M. schaedleri (D), and ASF519 P. goldsteinii (E) in Was^−/− mice