Elsevier, Cell, 5(158), p. 1000-1010, 2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2014.08.006
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Specific members of the intestinal microbiota dramatically affect inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in mice. In humans, however, identifying bacteria that preferentially affect disease susceptibility and severity remains a major challenge. Here, we used flow cytometry-based bacterial cell sorting and 16S sequencing to characterize taxa-specific coating of the intestinal microbiota with immunoglobulin A (IgA−SEQ) and show that high IgA−coating uniquely identifies colitogenic intestinal bacteria in a mouse model of microbiota-driven colitis. We then used IgA−SEQ and extensive anaerobic culturing of fecal bacteria from IBD patients to create personalized disease-associated gut microbiota culture collections with pre-defined levels of IgA coating. Using these collections, we found that intestinal bacteria selected on the basis of high coating with IgA conferred dramatic susceptibility to colitis in germ-free mice. Thus, our studies suggest that IgA−coating identifies inflammatory commensals that preferentially drive intestinal disease. Targeted elimination of such bacteria may reduce, reverse, or even prevent disease development.