The biomechanics of the gut in mechanical regulation of microbial ecology and translational opportunities

The intestine is a mechanically dynamic habitat in which motility, luminal flow, mucosal geometry, mucus rheology, and wall deformation jointly shape microbial transport, retention, washout, adhesion, and spatial organization.Emerging studies further show that bacteria can respond to mechanical cues through force-dependent adhesion, appendage-mediated surface sensing, rheotaxis, c-di-GMP signaling, and flow-regulated signal transport.Host mechanotransduction also remodels microbial habitats by influencing mucus integrity, epithelial function, intestinal motility, inflammation, and tissue mechanics.This review integrates current evidence linking intestinal biomechanics to bacterial behavior, community assembly, and reciprocal host-microbiota interactions.We distinguish direct mechanistic evidence from findings derived from model organisms, simplified flow systems, and animal models.We also evaluate organoids, gut-on-chip platforms, live imaging, and multiscale computational models, and discuss translational opportunities in motility modulation, mechanics-informed microbial delivery, and host mechanosensor targeting.Together, these findings position intestinal mechanics as one of several context-dependent factors that contribute to microbial ecology.Further studies combining regional mechanical measurements, anaerobic multispecies models, and longitudinal human data may help clarify the relevance of these mechanisms across experimental and clinical settings.