The Anaxem experimental facility is an animal facility for rodents and birds without microbiota (germ-free) or with controlled microbiota, kept in sterile isolators. It provides research teams from the Micalis Institute, INRAE and other organizations (academic and private), with animals, infrastructure and technical assistance to carry out protocols on the dialogue between commensal microbiota and their host.
Anaxem supports research into the interactions between the commensal microbiota and the host in various fields: microbial ecology; immunology; neuroscience; nutrition and food-related diseases, including food-borne infections, allergies, metabolic disorders. Anaxem continuously breeds one wild-type rat strain (F344) and two wild-type mouse strains (C3H/HeN, C57BL/6J) under germ-free conditions, while germ-free quails are produced on specific request. A pool of 38 isolators is available for experimental protocols with these germ-free animals, which may be colonized by one or several bacterial strains, or have fecal microbiota transferred from other animals or humans. Anaxem’s assistance with experimental protocols ranges from basic technical support for teams with expertise in gnotobiology to in-depth support for teams with little or no expertise in the field (e.g. help with experimental design, full protocol implementation, etc.).
