Gnotobiotic Core

Our germ-free mice are completely free of exogenous, bacterial, fungal and viral microorganisms. To ensure they remain free of all exogenous microbes, our germ-free mice are housed in isolator cages and are routinely monitored. These mice are ideal for the study of the microbiome. The gnotobiotic core also provides investigators with a laboratory that contains a biosafety cabinet and incubator for experimental needs.

Housing

The gnotobiotic core has four Allentown Sealed Positive Pressure (SPP) mouse racks certified with double HEPA filtration that house up to 48 cages each. These cages enable a germ-free environment at the cage level. The isolator cages are great for experiments as each cage provides its own individual isolated clean micro-environment.  Each cage has its own supply of clean air which is filtered through a HEPA filter.  The sterility of each cage is tested every two weeks. The gnotobiotic core has several 6-ft flexible-film isolators available for larger mouse breeding colonies.

All germ-free or axenic mice are housed on sterile cellulose based bedding (BioFresh), provided with hyperchlorinated RO water and Lab Diet JL rat & mouse 6F K5AI extruded diet formulated for autoclaving. The facility also has HEPA filters that filter the air in every animal room and is maintained at positive pressure. Environmental enrichment includes a red mouse igloo (Bioserv) and/or Enviro-pak for nesting. Any other special housing requirements must be requested and an additional fee may incur.

Technical Services

Our gnotobiotic core provides the following types of technical services to researchers as per their protocol needs:

• Colony management and breeding of germ-free and SPF mice
• Injections
• Blood collection
• Identification & tissue collection for genotyping - ear punch, tail snip
• Body weight
• Fecal collection
• Sterility testing- food, environment, swabs
• Sterile supplies for experiments-available upon request (ex: sterile gowns, gloves, 1.5ml microcentrifuge tubes, needles & syringes)
• Health monitoring - in house microbiological testing, external diagnostic lab for molecular testing
• Animal husbandry services
• Rederivation offered in the future
• Transfer of germ-free mice in autoclavable cages
• Fecal storage at -80

Professional Services

Training is available in the following two areas:

• Hands on training using the isolator cages, isolators, and biosafety cabinet
• Hands on training tailored to the lab's needs

Request Services

To request Gnotobiotic Core related technical services or have supply requests, please submit your requests using iLab.

How to Obtain Facility Access

• To obtain facility access to the Gnotobiotic Core, please visit the eIACUC website and go to Course Registration System.
• Click on “Animal Care Self-paced Training” and scroll down to register for the Gnotobiotic Orientation. You will receive an email with a video link to view it.
• After the virtual Gnotobiotic Orientation is completed, schedule a facility tour by emailing gnotobiotic@research.rutgers.edu. In the email, please include your PI’s name, your netID and what role you play in your research lab.  If you are a student, please include your expected graduation date.
• Before starting any gnotobiotic animal work or new experiments, a pre-study meeting with the gnotobiotic staff must be scheduled.

Contact

For general facility related inquiries, please contact: gnotobiotic@research.rutgers.edu

Documents

Please note: All documents require a Net-ID login to access.

Gnotobiotic Rates