High-resolution temporal profiling reveals synchronized dynamics of the mouse gut microbiome

Two phase-coherent groups of the mouse gut microbiome synchronize with the host light and dark phases, with distinct functional gene content and reproducible succession across individual mice.

• Why it matters: Diurnal microbial oscillations are linked to metabolic dysfunction, but the timing of microbial activity within these cycles is hard to resolve with conventional sampling.
• What they did: The study used an automated fecal collection system to sample individually housed mice hourly for 14 consecutive days, then applied GORIN and NPPD to infer genome- and function-level phase trajectories.
• The result: Phase synchronization was transiently disrupted by cage transfer and antibiotic treatment, as quantified by a phase order parameter, and then gradually recovered, enabling scalable tracking of community-level temporal dynamics.

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