Promotion of autoimmune diabetes by cereal diet in the presence or absence of microbes associated with gut immune activation, regulatory imbalance and altered cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide Short Title: Cereal diet promotes T1D in the absence of microbes

1 Chronic Disease Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 2 Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 3 Nutrition Research Division, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 4 Atlantic Food and Horticulture Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada 5 Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 6 Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 7 European Laboratory for the Investigation of Food-Induced Diseases, University Federico II Naples, Italy 8 Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 9 Address for correspondence: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8L6, Canada. Tel: 613-737-8929; e-mail: [email protected]