{
  "abstract": "The gut microbiota shapes host metabolism, development and immunity, yet how the host regulates its composition in the presence of complex ecological interactions remains poorly understood. Recent experiments that measured T cell reactivity to individual strains in germ-free mice inoculated with a defined microbial community found that T cell recognition across microbial strains is sparse but broad, with a few polyspecific clones recognizing antigens shared across taxonomically diverse strains. Reanalyzing these experiments, we show that these T cell responses are associated with abundance changes of the strains they target. To interpret these findings, we develop a model linking the T cell repertoire to microbial abundances, in which a repertoire is allocated to minimize microbe-driven harm at the cost of maintaining an immune response. The model rationalizes the observed sparsity of gut T cell reactivity and shows that this allocation can emerge from competition between T cells for microbe-derived antigens. Finally, we find that while immune recognition can regulate microbial abundances, ecological interactions between strains may interfere with this mechanism. Together, these results provide a quantitative framework for immune control of gut microbial composition and identify principles governing the organization of T cell repertoires in the gut.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.26779",
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Obinna A. Ukogu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Angelina M. Bilate"
    },
    {
      "name": "Thierry Mora"
    },
    {
      "name": "Aleksandra M. Walczak"
    },
    {
      "name": "Armita Nourmohammad"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8413575c583xh.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.26779",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "8413575c583xh",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26779",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.bio-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Gut microbiota and health"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223056283",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.26779",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-19",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8413575c583xh.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:30:52Z",
      "native_id": "2610.26779",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26779"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.bio-ph",
      "subfield": "biological-medical"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Rational T cell repertoire allocation to control the gut microbiota",
  "title_text": "Rational T cell repertoire allocation to control the gut microbiota",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:33:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8413575c583xh",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}