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Enumeration of the Oxygen Sensitive Bacteria usually Present in the Intestine of Healthy Mice

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Abstract

THE gastrointestinal microflora of specific pathogen free mice usually includes several species of anaerobic bacteria. In a healthy state these organisms greatly outnumber the coliform bacilli and enterococci that are commonly but erroneously assumed to be the most characteristic inhabitants of the intestinal tract1–3. Earlier publications from this laboratory have presented the hypothesis that several species of anaerobic bacteria have evolved with the mouse, live symbiotically with it and play essential parts in its anatomical development as well as in physiological functions. Such organisms are intimately associated with gastrointestinal anatomy and can be regarded as constituting its autochthonous microflora. This hypothesis, if valid, applies equally well to other omnivorous animals, including man1–3.

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Author notes

  1. ADRIAN LEE

    Present address: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rockefeller University, New York

    ADRIAN LEE, JAMES GORDON & RENÉ DUBOS

Authors
  1. ADRIAN LEE
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  2. JAMES GORDON
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  3. RENÉ DUBOS
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LEE, A., GORDON, J. & DUBOS, R. Enumeration of the Oxygen Sensitive Bacteria usually Present in the Intestine of Healthy Mice. Nature 220, 1137–1139 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/2201137a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2201137a0

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