gut microbiome
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Gut Microbial Diversity of Newly Diagnosed Diabetics but Not of Prediabetics Is Significantly Different from That of Healthy NondiabeticsGut microbiota is considered to play a role in disease progression, and previous studies have reported an association of microbiome dysbiosis with T2D. In this study, we have attempted to investigate gut microbiota of ND, PreDMs, NewDMs, and KnownDMs. We found that the genera Akkermansia and Blautia decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in treatment-naive diabetics and were restored in KnownDMs on antidiabetic...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Gut Microbiota in Camellia Weevils Are Influenced by Plant Secondary Metabolites and Contribute to Saponin DegradationThe gut microbiome may play an important role in insect-plant interactions mediated by plant secondary metabolites, but the microbial communities and functions of toxic plant feeders are still poorly characterized. In the present study, we provide the first metagenome of gut bacterial communities associated with a specialist weevil feeding on saponin-rich and saponin-low camellia seeds, and the results reveal the correlation between...
Research Article | Novel Systems Biology TechniquesMICOM: Metagenome-Scale Modeling To Infer Metabolic Interactions in the Gut MicrobiotaThe bacterial communities that live within the human gut have been linked to health and disease. However, we are still just beginning to understand how those bacteria interact and what potential interventions to our gut microbiome can make us healthier. Here, we present a mathematical modeling framework (named MICOM) that can recapitulate the growth rates of diverse bacterial species in the gut and can simulate metabolic interactions...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyDynamic Changes of Gut Microbial Communities of Bumble Bee Queens through Important Life StagesBumble bee queens undergo a number of biological changes as they transition through adult emergence, mating, overwintering, foraging, and colony initiation including egg laying. Therefore, they represent an important system to understand the link between physiological, behavioral, and environmental changes and host-associated microbiota. It is plausible that the bumble bee queen gut bacteria play a role in shaping the ability of the...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyInteractions between the Gut Microbiome and Mucosal Immunoglobulins A, M, and G in the Developing Infant GutAntibodies are secreted into the gut and attach to roughly half of the trillions of bacterial cells present. When babies are born, the breastmilk supplies these antibodies until the baby’s own immune system takes over this task after a few weeks. The vast majority of these antibodies are IgA, but two other types, IgG and IgM, are also present in the gut. Here, we ask if these three different antibody types target different types of...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAssociation of Flavonifractor plautii, a Flavonoid-Degrading Bacterium, with the Gut Microbiome of Colorectal Cancer Patients in IndiaThis study provides novel insights on the CRC-associated microbiome of a unique cohort in India, reveals the potential role of a new bacterium in CRC, and identifies cohort-specific biomarkers, which can potentially be used in noninvasive diagnosis of CRC. The study gains additional significance, as India is among the countries with a very low incidence of CRC, and the diet and lifestyle in India have been associated with a distinct gut...
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.