| Summary: | In vitro models for culturing complex microbial communities are progressively being used to study the effects of different factors on the modeling of in vitro-cultured microorganisms. In previous work, we validated a 3D in vitro model of the human gut microbiota based on electrospun gelatin scaffolds covered with mucins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of <i>Bacillus cereus</i>, a pathogen responsible for food poisoning diseases in humans, on the gut microbiota grown in the model. Real-time quantitative PCR and 16S ribosomal RNA-gene sequencing were performed to obtain information on microbiota composition after introducing <i>B. cereus</i> ATCC 14579 vegetative cells or culture supernatants. The adhesion of <i>B. cereus</i> to intestinal mucins was also tested. The presence of <i>B. cereus</i> induced important modifications in the intestinal communities. Notably, levels of <i>Proteobacteria</i> (particularly <i>Escherichia coli</i>), <i>Lactobacillus</i>, and <i>Akkermansia</i> were reduced, while abundances of <i>Bifidobacterium</i> and <i>Mitsuokella</i> increased. In addition, <i>B. cereus</i> was able to adhere to mucins. The results obtained from our in vitro model stress the hypothesis that <i>B. cereus</i> is able to colonize the intestinal mucosa by stably adhering to mucins and impacting intestinal microbial communities as an additional pathogenetic mechanism during gastrointestinal infection.
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