First step of odorant detection in the olfactory epithelium and olfactory preferences differ according to the microbiota profile in mice

Abstract We have previously provided the first evidence that the microbiota modulates the physiology of the olfactory epithelium using germfree mice. The extent to which changes to the olfactory system depend on the microbiota is still unknown. In the present work, we explored if different microbiota would differentially impact olfaction. We therefore studied the olfactory function of three groups of mice of the same genetic background, whose parents had been conventionalized before mating with microbiota from three different mouse strains. Caecal short chain fatty acids profiles and 16S rRNA gene sequencing ascertained that gut microbiota differed between the three groups. We then used a behavioural test to measure the attractiveness of various odorants and observed that the three groups of mice differed in their attraction towards odorants. Their olfactory epithelium properties, including electrophysiological responses recorded by electro-olfactograms and expression of genes related to the olfactory transduction pathway, also showed several differences. Overall, our data demonstrate that differences in gut microbiota profiles are associated with differences in olfactory preferences and in olfactory epithelium functioning.