Programmed recognition of microbiota Increasingly, we recognize that the gut is a specialized organ for maintaining microbial symbioses alongside nutritional functions. The gut produces large quantities of immunoglobulin A (IgA), which adheres to the surface of gut microbes. Bunker et al. discovered that antibodies produced by naïve small intestinal plasma cells are recirculated and enriched within Peyer's patches, independently of exogenous antigen and T cell help. The resulting polyreactive IgAs are released into the gut lumen and bind to microbial surface glycans, thus innately recognizing the gut microbiota. Polyreactive IgAs appear to be a product of the coevolution of host and microbiota to maintain symbiotic homeostasis. Science , this issue p. eaan6619