I am curious if anyone has ever observed this in any germ-free work they did. From what i've been reading, no matter what the genetic background of the mouse, once you take the microbiome away, they can't get constipated.
This sort of makes sense to me, as the content of the stool itself becomes mostly indigestible fibers + proteins + fat and a lot more water than wild-type. This composition is less amenable to hardening, thus, qed.
Am I missing something?
As important as the microbiome may be "no matter what the genetic background of the mouse" will most likely not hold true.
The length of the intestine, starvation, reduced water intake and anything that affects intestinal integrity (spinal cord damage, megacolon, ...) is likely/known to also affect transit, either by reducing movement or increasing nutrient intake (dryness, hardening).
I haven't found anything specific for germ-free mice but spinal cord injuries are a well known condition that lead to constipation (in humans). If the microbiome still plays a role in this situation is to be tested (or better searched).
In absolute terms, I don't see why germ-free mice wouldn't get constipated.
In the case of wild-type healthy mice, your reasoning makes sense.
http://physiolgenomics.physiology.org/content/16/1/82
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3118252/
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