Eco-tank Housing Maintains Wild-Type Microbiota and Rewilds the Laboratory Mouse Gut Microbiome to Restore Natural Immune Tone

Laboratory mice are foundational models for immunology, yet their specific pathogen-free rearing and housing environments impose ecological constraints that reshape the gut microbiome and immune tone. This study introduces a scalable, pathogen-monitored Eco-tank system that restores environmental microbial complexity while preserving experimental control. By demonstrating that housing ecology reshapes microbiome functional potential and modulates baseline immune resistance without compromising vaccine responsiveness, this work highlights environmental context as a critical experimental variable in preclinical immunology and offers a tractable framework for improving translational relevance.