gut microbiome
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAltered Fecal Small RNA Profiles in Colorectal Cancer Reflect Gut Microbiome Composition in Stool SamplesThe characteristics of microbial small RNA transcription are largely unknown, while it is of primary importance for a better identification of molecules with functional activities in the gut niche under both healthy and disease conditions. By performing combined analyses of metagenomic and small RNA sequencing (sRNA-Seq) data, we characterized both the human and microbial small RNA contents of stool samples from healthy individuals and...
Research Article | Novel Systems Biology TechniquesMouse Gut Microbiome-Encoded β-Glucuronidases Identified Using Metagenome Analysis Guided by Protein StructureMice are commonly employed as model organisms of mammalian disease; as such, our understanding of the compositions of their gut microbiomes is critical to appreciating how the mouse and human gastrointestinal tracts mirror one another. GUS enzymes, with importance in normal physiology and disease, are an attractive set of proteins to use for such analyses. Here we show that while the specific GUS enzymes differ at the sequence level, a...
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyConsidering the Other Half of the Gut Microbiome: BacteriophagesBacteriophages, viruses specific to bacteria, regulate bacterial communities in all known microbial systems. My research aims to determine how they interact with the trillions of bacteria found in the human gut.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyMissing Links: the Role of Primates in Understanding the Human MicrobiomeThe gut microbiome can influence host energy balances and metabolic programming. While this information is valuable in a disease context, it also has important implications for understanding host energetics from an ecological and evolutionary perspective.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyFucosylated Human Milk Oligosaccharides and N-Glycans in the Milk of Chinese Mothers Regulate the Gut Microbiome of Their Breast-Fed Infants during Different Lactation StagesHuman milk glycans provide a broad range of carbon sources for gut microbes in infants. Levels of protein glycosylation in human milk vary during lactation and may also be affected by the stages of gestation and lactation and by the secretor status of the mother. This was the first study to evaluate systematically dynamic changes in human milk oligosaccharides and fucosylated N-glycans in the milk of Chinese mothers with different...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceIs Host Filtering the Main Driver of Phylosymbiosis across the Tree of Life?Phylosymbiosis is a pattern defined as the tendency of closely related species to host microbiota whose compositions resemble each other more than host species drawn at random from the same tree. Understanding the mechanisms behind phylosymbiosis is important because it can shed light on rules governing the assembly of host-associated microbiotas and, potentially, their coevolutionary dynamics with hosts. For example, is phylosymbiosis...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAsymptomatic Intestinal Colonization with Protist Blastocystis Is Strongly Associated with Distinct Microbiome Ecological PatternsGiven the results of our study and other reports of the effects of the most common human gut protist on the diversity and composition of the bacterial microbiome, Blastocystis and, possibly, other gut protists should be studied as ecosystem engineers that drive community diversity and composition.
Commentary | Host-Microbe BiologyCrowdsourcing Our National GutThe microbes of the human intestinal tract play a profound role in our health. The complex interactions between our gut microbial communities and the external environment, and the resulting functional consequences, can be difficult to disentangle.
Minireview | Novel Systems Biology TechniquesFrom Network Analysis to Functional Metabolic Modeling of the Human Gut MicrobiotaAn important hallmark of the human gut microbiota is its species diversity and complexity. Various diseases have been associated with a decreased diversity leading to reduced metabolic functionalities.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyCan Diet Influence Our Health by Altering Intestinal Microbiota-Derived Fecal Metabolites?The human gastrointestinal tract harbors a diverse, highly mutualistic microbial flora which could produce a myriad of specialized metabolites. These specialized metabolites are the chemical cellphones that gut microflora use to communicate with their human host and could potentially be used to cure diseases.