ABSTRACTType 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of pancreatic β-cells. Focusing on the main insulin epitope, insulin B-chain 9-23 (insB:9-23), we explored whether a microbial insB:9-23 mimic could modulate T1D. We now demonstrate that a microbial insB:9-23 mimic of Parabacteroides distasonis, a human gut commensal, exclusively stimulates non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse T cells specific to insB:9-23. Indeed, immunization of NOD mice with either the bacterial mimic peptide or insB:9-23 further verified the cross-reactivity in vivo. Modeling P. distasonis peptide revealed a potential pathogenic register 3 binding. P. distasonis colonization of the female NOD mice gut accelerated T1D onset. In addition, adoptive transfer of splenocytes from NOD mice colonized with P. distasonis to NOD.SCID recipients conferred the enhanced disease phenotype. Integration analysis of published infant T1D gut microbiome data revealed that P. distasonis peptide is not present in the gut microbiota in the first year of life of infants that eventually develop T1D. Furthermore, P. distasonis peptide can stimulate human T cell clones specific to insB:9-23 and T1D patients demonstrated a strong humoral immune response to P. distasonis than controls. Taken together, our studies define a potential molecular mimicry link between T1D pathogenesis and the gut microbiota.One Sentence SummaryThe human gut commensal bacterium, Parabacteroides distasonis, accelerates type 1 diabetes in the NOD mouse model of the disease and involves expression of an insulin B:9-23 epitope mimic, supporting a potential disease mechanism involving molecular mimicry.