Dock2 affects the host susceptibility to Citrobacter rodentium infection through regulating gut microbiota

Background Dysregulated gut microbiota is one of major pathogenic factors in the development of colitis. Dock2 acts as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and activates small G protein RAC1. Our previous study showed that, compared to wild type (WT) mice, Dock2 −/− mice were more susceptible to colitis induced by Citrobacter rodentium infection. However, it is not clear whether gut microbiota affects the host susceptibility to enteric bacterial infection in Dock2 −/− mice. Results In this study, we demonstrated that Dock2 regulated the gut microbiota and affected the host susceptibility to C. rodentium infection by co-housing, fecal microbiota transfer and antibiotic treatment methods. Microbiota analysis by 16 S rRNA gene sequencing showed that Dock2 increased the abundance of prevotellaceae-NK3B31-group and Lactobacillus but decreased that of Helicobacter . Conclusions These results suggest that Dock2 regulates the composition of gut microbiota and affects the host susceptibility to C. rodentium infection.