Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation

Laboratory-raised mice live approximately seven times longer and healthier lives compared to their wild counterparts, due to a standardized healthy diet and limited exposure to environmental stressors. Aging is associated with increased inflammation and microbial dysbiosis. Collectively, these influ...

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Main Authors: Rita Melo-Miranda, Ana Pinto, Hugo C. Barreto, Catarina S. H. Jesus, Isabel Gordo, Iola F. Duarte, Ana Sousa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Gut Microbes
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19490976.2025.2542375
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author Rita Melo-Miranda
Ana Pinto
Hugo C. Barreto
Catarina S. H. Jesus
Isabel Gordo
Iola F. Duarte
Ana Sousa
author_facet Rita Melo-Miranda
Ana Pinto
Hugo C. Barreto
Catarina S. H. Jesus
Isabel Gordo
Iola F. Duarte
Ana Sousa
author_sort Rita Melo-Miranda
collection DOAJ
description Laboratory-raised mice live approximately seven times longer and healthier lives compared to their wild counterparts, due to a standardized healthy diet and limited exposure to environmental stressors. Aging is associated with increased inflammation and microbial dysbiosis. Collectively, these influence microbiota evolution and may contribute to the enrichment in pathobiont frequency observed in old age. Alternatively, this increase could stem from a decline in colonization resistance, creating favorable conditions for pathobiont invasion. Here, we sought to test whether aging in healthy, controlled conditions, could prevent the selection of age-associated pathobionts. We have followed the adaptive evolution of a commensal strain of Escherichia coli in the guts of mice of advanced age and found that it acquired several mutations common to bacteria colonizing young mice, which were absent in old animals. This, together with the increase in Akkermansia muciniphila in mice of advanced age, suggest healthy aging. However, mutations acquired exclusively in the older were mainly pathoadaptive, tuning the metabolism to oxygen and iron availability, hypermotility, and biofilm formation.
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language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
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series Gut Microbes
spelling doaj-art-b71cff18eb1b4583a2d2fa5807b04fbb2025-08-20T03:59:40ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGut Microbes1949-09761949-09842025-12-0117110.1080/19490976.2025.2542375Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptationRita Melo-Miranda0Ana Pinto1Hugo C. Barreto2Catarina S. H. Jesus3Isabel Gordo4Iola F. Duarte5Ana Sousa6Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, PortugalInstitute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, PortugalUniversité Paris Cité, CNRS, Inserm, Institut Cochin, Paris, FranceDepartment of Chemistry, CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials & LAQV-REQUIMTE, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, PortugalGulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM), Lisbon, PortugalDepartment of Chemistry, CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials & LAQV-REQUIMTE, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, PortugalInstitute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, PortugalLaboratory-raised mice live approximately seven times longer and healthier lives compared to their wild counterparts, due to a standardized healthy diet and limited exposure to environmental stressors. Aging is associated with increased inflammation and microbial dysbiosis. Collectively, these influence microbiota evolution and may contribute to the enrichment in pathobiont frequency observed in old age. Alternatively, this increase could stem from a decline in colonization resistance, creating favorable conditions for pathobiont invasion. Here, we sought to test whether aging in healthy, controlled conditions, could prevent the selection of age-associated pathobionts. We have followed the adaptive evolution of a commensal strain of Escherichia coli in the guts of mice of advanced age and found that it acquired several mutations common to bacteria colonizing young mice, which were absent in old animals. This, together with the increase in Akkermansia muciniphila in mice of advanced age, suggest healthy aging. However, mutations acquired exclusively in the older were mainly pathoadaptive, tuning the metabolism to oxygen and iron availability, hypermotility, and biofilm formation.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19490976.2025.2542375Agingexperimental evolutionEscherichia colimicrobiotapathoadaptation
spellingShingle Rita Melo-Miranda
Ana Pinto
Hugo C. Barreto
Catarina S. H. Jesus
Isabel Gordo
Iola F. Duarte
Ana Sousa
Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation
Gut Microbes
Aging
experimental evolution
Escherichia coli
microbiota
pathoadaptation
title Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation
title_full Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation
title_fullStr Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation
title_full_unstemmed Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation
title_short Aging: a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation
title_sort aging a possible road toward gut microbiota pathoadaptation
topic Aging
experimental evolution
Escherichia coli
microbiota
pathoadaptation
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19490976.2025.2542375
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