Multilocus sequence typing breathes life into a microbial metagenome.
(1/1707)
Shot-gun sequencing of DNA isolated from the environment and the assembly of metagenomes from the resulting data has considerably advanced the study of microbial diversity. However, the subsequent matching of these hypothetical metagenomes to cultivable microorganisms is a limitation of such cultivation-independent methods of population analysis. Using a nucleotide sequence-based genetic typing method, multilocus sequence typing, we were able for the first time to match clonal cultivable isolates to a published and controversial bacterial metagenome, Burkholderia SAR-1, which derived from analysis of the Sargasso Sea. The matching cultivable isolates were all associated with infection and geographically widely distributed; taxonomic analysis demonstrated they were members of Burkholderia cepacia complex Group K. Comparison of the Burkholderia SAR-1 metagenome to closely related B. cepacia complex genomes indicated that it was greater than 98% intact in terms of conserved genes, and it also shared complete sequence identity with the cultivable isolates at random loci beyond the genes sampled by the multilocus sequence typing. Two features of the extant cultivable clones support the argument that the Burkholderia SAR-1 sequence may have been a contaminant in the original metagenomic survey: (i) their growth in conditions reflective of sea water was poor, suggesting the ocean was not their preferred habitat, and (ii) several of the matching isolates were epidemiologically linked to outbreaks of infection that resulted from contaminated medical devices or products, indicating an adaptive fitness of this bacterial strain towards contamination-associated environments. The ability to match identical cultivable strains of bacteria to a hypothetical metagenome is a unique feature of nucleotide sequence-based microbial typing methods; such matching would not have been possible with more traditional methods of genetic typing, such as those based on pattern matching of genomic restriction fragments or amplified DNA fragments. Overall, we have taken the first steps in moving the status of the Burkholderia SAR-1 metagenome from a hypothetical entity towards the basis for life of cultivable strains that may now be analysed in conjunction with the assembled metagenomic sequence data by the wider scientific community. (+info)
Development of the human infant intestinal microbiota.
(2/1707)
Almost immediately after a human being is born, so too is a new microbial ecosystem, one that resides in that person's gastrointestinal tract. Although it is a universal and integral part of human biology, the temporal progression of this process, the sources of the microbes that make up the ecosystem, how and why it varies from one infant to another, and how the composition of this ecosystem influences human physiology, development, and disease are still poorly understood. As a step toward systematically investigating these questions, we designed a microarray to detect and quantitate the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences of most currently recognized species and taxonomic groups of bacteria. We used this microarray, along with sequencing of cloned libraries of PCR-amplified SSU rDNA, to profile the microbial communities in an average of 26 stool samples each from 14 healthy, full-term human infants, including a pair of dizygotic twins, beginning with the first stool after birth and continuing at defined intervals throughout the first year of life. To investigate possible origins of the infant microbiota, we also profiled vaginal and milk samples from most of the mothers, and stool samples from all of the mothers, most of the fathers, and two siblings. The composition and temporal patterns of the microbial communities varied widely from baby to baby. Despite considerable temporal variation, the distinct features of each baby's microbial community were recognizable for intervals of weeks to months. The strikingly parallel temporal patterns of the twins suggested that incidental environmental exposures play a major role in determining the distinctive characteristics of the microbial community in each baby. By the end of the first year of life, the idiosyncratic microbial ecosystems in each baby, although still distinct, had converged toward a profile characteristic of the adult gastrointestinal tract. (+info)
Comparative metagenomics revealed commonly enriched gene sets in human gut microbiomes.
(3/1707)
Numerous microbes inhabit the human intestine, many of which are uncharacterized or uncultivable. They form a complex microbial community that deeply affects human physiology. To identify the genomic features common to all human gut microbiomes as well as those variable among them, we performed a large-scale comparative metagenomic analysis of fecal samples from 13 healthy individuals of various ages, including unweaned infants. We found that, while the gut microbiota from unweaned infants were simple and showed a high inter-individual variation in taxonomic and gene composition, those from adults and weaned children were more complex but showed a high functional uniformity regardless of age or sex. In searching for the genes over-represented in gut microbiomes, we identified 237 gene families commonly enriched in adult-type and 136 families in infant-type microbiomes, with a small overlap. An analysis of their predicted functions revealed various strategies employed by each type of microbiota to adapt to its intestinal environment, suggesting that these gene sets encode the core functions of adult and infant-type gut microbiota. By analysing the orphan genes, 647 new gene families were identified to be exclusively present in human intestinal microbiomes. In addition, we discovered a conjugative transposon family explosively amplified in human gut microbiomes, which strongly suggests that the intestine is a 'hot spot' for horizontal gene transfer between microbes. (+info)
The human microbiome project.
(4/1707)
A strategy to understand the microbial components of the human genetic and metabolic landscape and how they contribute to normal physiology and predisposition to disease. (+info)
Probiotic modulation of symbiotic gut microbial-host metabolic interactions in a humanized microbiome mouse model.
(5/1707)