不同“肠型”人群肠道菌群结构

目的 为了发挥饮食对肠道菌群的有益调节作用,预防代谢性疾病的发生,特研究不同肠型人群肠道微生物组成和对饮食的代谢情况。 方法 随机招募志愿者(n=102),排除病患和近1个月内有抗生素药物史的志愿者。剩余志愿者(n=70)收集晨便、晨尿样本,通过Illumina HiSeq 2500测序仪对粪便样本中肠道菌群V3-V4区进行16S rDNA测序,分析肠道菌群的结构;通过高分辨质谱仪开展尿液代谢组分析。 结果 通过肠道菌群可将志愿者分成2种肠型:A和B,A肠型志愿者F/B值(肠道优势菌厚壁菌门与拟杆菌门丰度比例)低于B肠型。A肠型志愿者结肠拟杆菌科、韦荣球菌科、肠杆菌科、消化链球菌科的丰度高于B肠型,而瘤胃菌科、普雷沃菌科、紫单胞菌科和理研菌科的丰度低于B肠型。 结论 结果表明研究人群肠道中至少存在着2种肠型,在菌群结构上具有显著的差异。     

Reservoirs of Antibiotic Resistance Genes

A potential concern about the use of antibiotics in animal husbundary is that, as antibiotic resistant bacteria move from the farm into the human diet, they may pass antibiotic resistance genes to bacteria that normally reside in a the human intestinal tract and from there to bacteria that cause human disease (reservoir hypothesis). In this article various approaches to evaluating the risk of agricultural use of antibiotics are assessed critically. In addition, the potential benefits of applying new technology and using new insights from the field of microbial ecology are explained.     

Phylogeny vs genome reshuffling: horizontal gene transfer

The evolutionary events in organisms can be tracked to the transfer of genetic material. The inheritance of genetic material among closely related organisms is a slow evolutionary process. On the other hand, the movement of genes among distantly related species can account for rapid evolution. The later process has been quite evident in the appearance of antibiotic resistance genes among human and animal pathogens. Phylogenetic trees based on such genes and those involved in metabolic activities reflect the incongruencies in comparison to the 16S rDNA gene, generally used for taxonomic relationships. Such discrepancies in gene inheritance have been termed as horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events. In the post-genomic era, the explosion of known sequences through large-scale sequencing projects has unraveled the weakness of traditional 16S rDNA gene tree based evolutionary model. Various methods to scrutinize HGT events include atypical composition, abnormal sequence similarity, anomalous phylogenetic distribution, unusual phyletic patterns, etc. Since HGT generates greater genetic diversity, it is likely to increase resource use and ecosystem resilience.     

Effects of Heat Stress on Gut Microbiome in Rats

Gut microbiome, as the largest and most important micro-ecosystem, plays a critical role in health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether heat stress modulates the composition and diversity of the gut microbiome in rats. The heat stress model was prepared in rats with the heating temperature maintained at 35–38°C. Cecum contents were collected after heat stress for 3 h and days 1, 3 and 7. Total DNA was extracted for 16 S rRNA sequencing and analysis of intestinal microbiome composition and diversity. The study showed that the composition of the intestinal microbiome of heat stress group was changed. And the heat stress modulated key phylotypes of gut microbiota at the level of phylum and genus. In particular, the genus of Lactobacillus and Bacteroides were significantly reduced, whereas the Oscillospira and Clostridium were increased by heat stress. Meanwhile, the rats under the heat stress encountered the change in carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and membrane transport to defense against stress. Taken together, the composition and structure of gut microbiome were affected by heat stress and some key phylotypes were also significantly altered. We conclude that the heat stress could impact multiple biological functions, via altering the gut microbiome.     

中国林蛙蝌蚪肠道及皮肤微生物多样性分析

肠道及皮肤微生物群落对宿主的健康有着至关重要的影响.本研究使用16S rRNA基因测序技术研究中国林蛙(Rana chensinensis)Gosner38期蝌蚪肠道和皮肤共生微生物群落组成之间的差异.在门水平上,林蛙蝌蚪肠道中的优势门为变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)和拟杆菌...     

活性污泥抗生素抗性基因研究进展

抗生素抗性在全球范围内的传播扩散严重威胁人类健康。活性污泥是污水处理系统重要的处理工艺,同时也是抗生素抗性及其发生水平基因转移的一个重要储库和热区。目前,随着研究手段和技术的不断更新,活性污泥中抗生素抗性的研究不断增加,但是仍有许多科学问题亟待解决。本文主要针对活性污泥抗生素抗性的5个主要方面进行深入讨论:(1)活性污泥中抗性基因的丰度和分布的影响因素;(2)污泥抗性基因的研究方法;(3)活性污泥抗性基因的传播与扩散;(4)污泥中抗性基因环境风险评估;(5)研究展望。本综述在活性污泥抗生素抗性研究基础上,阐述了驱动抗生素抗性扩散的基本微生物生态过程研究进展,旨在为污水处理工艺的发展和优化及抗性基因控制政策的制定提供科学基础。     

Horizontal gene transfer promoted evolution of the ability to propagate under anaerobic conditions in yeasts

The ability to propagate under anaerobic conditions is an essential and unique trait of brewers or bakers yeast (Saccharomyces cervisiae). To understand the evolution of facultative anaerobiosis we studied the dependence of de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis, more precisely the fourth enzymic activity catalysed by dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODase), on the enzymes of the respiratory chain in several yeast species. While the majority of yeasts possess a mitochondrial DHODase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a cytoplasmatic enzyme, whose activity is independent of the presence of oxygen. From the phylogenetic point of view, this enzyme is closely related to a bacterial DHODase from Lactococcus lactis. Here we show that S. kluyveri, which separated from the S. cerevisiae lineage more than 100 million years ago, represents an evolutionary intermediate, having both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial DHODases. We show that these two S. kluyveri enzymes, and their coding genes, differ in their dependence on the presence of oxygen. Only the cytoplasmic DHODase promotes growth in the absence of oxygen. Apparently a Saccharomyces yeast progenitor which had a eukaryotic-like mitochondrial DHODase acquired a bacterial gene for DHODase, which subsequently allowed cell growth gradually to become independent of oxygen.Communicated by C. P. Hollenberg     

Phylogenetic Analysis of Antibiotic Glycosyltransferases

Catalyzed by a family of enzymes called glycosyltransferases, glycosylation reactions are essential for the bioactivities of secondary metabolites such as antibiotics. Due to the special characters of antibiotic glycosyltransferases (AGts), antibiotics can function by attaching some unusual deoxy-sugars to their aglycons. Comprehensive similarity searches on the amino acid sequences of AGts have been performed. We reconstructed the molecular phylogeny of AGts with neighbor-joining, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian methods of phylogenetic inference. The phylogenetic trees show a distinct separation of polyene macrolide (PEM) AGts and other polyketide AGts. The former are more like eukaryotic glycosyltransferases and were deduced to be the results of horizontal gene transfer from eukaryotes. Protein tertiary structural comparison also indicated that some glycopeptide AGts (Gtf-proteins) have a close evolutionary relationship with MurGs, essential glycosyltransferases involved in maturation of bacterial cell walls. The evolutionary relationship of glycopeptide antibiotic biosynthetic gene clusters was speculated according to the phylogenetic analysis of Gtf-proteins. Considering the fact that polyketide AGts and Gtf-proteins are all GT Family 1 members and their aglycon acceptor biosynthetic patterns are very similar, we deduced that AGts and the synthases of their aglycon acceptors have some evolutionary relevance. Finally, the evolutionary origins of AGts that do not fall into GT Family 1 are discussed, suggesting that their ancestral proteins appear to be derived from various proteins responsible for primary metabolism. [Reviewing Editor: Dr. Niles Lehman]     

"肠道微生物-肠道-脑轴"机制--肠道微生物干预神经退行性病变研究进展

肠道微生物是人体中最为庞大和复杂的微生物群落,其对机体的健康,尤其是中枢神经退行性病变具有重要调节作用。其中,"肠道微生物-肠道-脑轴"机制是肠道微生物干预中枢神经退行性病变的重要途径。该机制主要通过以下三种方式来调节大脑功能:一是肠道微生物直接产生神经递质通过肠神经细胞上行至中枢神经系统;二是肠道微生物代谢产物刺激肠内分泌细胞产生神经肽类和胃肠激素类物质,影响大脑功能;三是肠道微生物或其代谢产物直接刺激肠道免疫系统,产生干扰素类物质干扰大脑免疫反应。本文对"肠道微生物-肠道-脑轴"机制的概念及研究进展进行了详细的介绍,同时总结了有关肠道微生物与阿尔兹海默症、帕金森症和多发性硬化症等神经退行性疾病相互作用的相关文献。依据"肠道微生物-肠道-脑轴"机制,利用肠道微生物预防和治疗神经退行性病变,或将成为解决中枢神经系统疾病的新措施。     

人类微生物组测序与比较研究

人体微生物群系影响人类的健康,与人类的各种疾病,如肥胖、糖尿病、冠心病、结肠癌等的发生具有密切的关系.近年来,人类微生物组研究日益受到重视.综述人类微生物组的测序和比较研究进展.     

Prokaryotic species are sui generis evolutionary units

Many gene flow barriers associated with genetic isolation during eukaryotic species divergence, are lacking in prokaryotes. In these organisms the processes associated with horizontal gene transfer (HGT) may provide both the homogenizing force needed for genetic cohesion and the genetic variation essential to speciation. This is because HGT events can broadly be grouped into genetic conversions (where endogenous genetic material are replaced with homologs acquired from external sources) and genetic introductions (where novel genetic material is acquired from external sources). HGT-based genetic conversions therefore causes homogenization, while genetic introductions drive divergence of populations upon fixation of genetic variants. The impact of HGT in different prokaryotic species may vary substantially and can range from very low levels to rampant HGT, producing chimeric groups of isolates. Combined with other evolutionary processes, these varying levels of HGT causes diversity space to be occupied by unique groups that are mostly incomparable in terms of genetic similarity, genomic cohesion and evolutionary age. As a result, the conventional, cut-off based metrics for species delineation are not adequate. Rather, a pluralistic approach to prokaryotic species recognition is required to accommodate the unique evolutionary ages and tendencies, population dynamics, and evolutionary fates of individual prokaryotic species. Following this approach, all prokaryotic species may be regarded as unique and each of their own kind (sui generis). Taxonomic decisions thus require evolutionary information that integrates vertical inheritances with all possible sources of genetic heterogeneity to ultimately produce robust and biologically meaningful classifications.     

Evolution of the haem synthetic pathway in kinetoplastid flagellates: An essential pathway that is not essential after all?

For a vast majority of living organisms, haem is an essential compound that is synthesised through a conserved biosynthetic pathway. However, certain organisms are haem auxotrophs and need to obtain this molecule from exogenous sources. Kinetoplastid flagellates represent an interesting group of species, as some of them lost the complete pathway while others possess only the last three biosynthetic steps. We decided to supplement a current view on the phylogeny of these important pathogens with the expected state of haem synthesis in representative species. We propose a scenario in which the ancestor of all trypanosomatids was completely deficient of the synthesis of haem. In trypanosomatids other than members of the genus Trypanosoma, the pathway was partially rescued by genes encoding enzymes for the last three steps, supposedly obtained by horizontal transfer from a γ-proteobacterium. This event preceded the diversification of the non-Trypanosoma trypanosomatids. Later, some flagellates acquired a β-proteobacterial endosymbiont which supplied them with haem precursors. On the other hand, the medically important trypanosomes have remained fully deficient of haem synthesis and obtain this compound from the host.     

Short-Term Antibiotic Treatment Has Differing Long-Term Impacts on the Human Throat and Gut Microbiome

Antibiotic administration is the standard treatment for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the main causative agent of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. However, the long-term consequences of this treatment on the human indigenous microbiota are relatively unexplored. Here we studied short- and long-term effects of clarithromycin and metronidazole treatment, a commonly used therapy regimen against H. pylori, on the indigenous microbiota in the throat and in the lower intestine. The bacterial compositions in samples collected over a four-year period were monitored by analyzing the 16S rRNA gene using 454-based pyrosequencing and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). While the microbial communities of untreated control subjects were relatively stable over time, dramatic shifts were observed one week after antibiotic treatment with reduced bacterial diversity in all treated subjects in both locations. While the microbiota of the different subjects responded uniquely to the antibiotic treatment some general trends could be observed; such as a dramatic decline in Actinobacteria in both throat and feces immediately after treatment. Although the diversity of the microbiota subsequently recovered to resemble the pre treatment states, the microbiota remained perturbed in some cases for up to four years post treatment. In addition, four years after treatment high levels of the macrolide resistance gene erm(B) were found, indicating that antibiotic resistance, once selected for, can persist for longer periods of time than previously recognized. This highlights the importance of a restrictive antibiotic usage in order to prevent subsequent treatment failure and potential spread of antibiotic resistance.     

Rule-based simulation of temperate bacteriophage infection: Restriction–modification as a limiter to infection in bacterial populations

An individual-based model (IbM) for bacterial adaptation and evolution, COSMIC-Rules, has been employed to simulate interactions of virtual temperate bacteriophages (phages) and their bacterial hosts. Outcomes of infection mimic those of a phage such as lambda, which can enter either the lytic or lysogenic cycle, depending on the nutritional status of the host. Infection of different hosts possessing differing restriction and modification systems is also simulated. Phages restricted upon infection of one restricting host can be adapted (by host-controlled modification of the phage genome) and subsequently propagate with full efficiency on this host. However, such ability is lost if the progeny phages are passaged through a new host with a different restriction and modification system before attempted re-infection of the original restrictive host. The simulations show that adaptation and re-adaptation to a particular host-controlled restriction and modification system result in lower efficiency and delayed lysis of bacterial cells compared with infection of non-restricting host bacteria.     

Dissecting the in Vivo Metabolic Potential of Two Human Gut Acetogens

Fermenting microbial communities generate hydrogen; its removal through the production of acetate, methane, or hydrogen sulfide modulates the efficiency of energy extraction from available nutrients in many ecosystems. We noted that pathway components for acetogenesis are more abundantly and consistently represented in the gut microbiomes of monozygotic twins and their mothers than components for methanogenesis or sulfate reduction and subsequently analyzed the metabolic potential of two sequenced human gut acetogens, Blautia hydrogenotrophica and Marvinbryantia formatexigens in vitro and in the intestines of gnotobiotic mice harboring a prominent saccharolytic bacterium. To do so, we developed a generally applicable method for multiplex sequencing of expressed microbial mRNAs (microbial RNA-Seq) and, together with mass spectrometry of metabolites, showed that these organisms have distinct patterns of substrate utilization. B. hydrogenotrophica targets aliphatic and aromatic amino acids. It increases the efficiency of fermentation by consuming reducing equivalents, thereby maintaining a high NAD⁺/NADH ratio and boosting acetate production. In contrast, M. formatexigens consumes oligosaccharides, does not impact the redox state of the gut, and boosts the yield of succinate. These findings have strategic implications for those who wish to manipulate the hydrogen economy of gut microbial communities in ways that modulate energy harvest.     

Adaptive Evolution within Gut Microbiomes of Healthy People

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Approaches to investigating the ecology of plasmids in marine bacterial communities

To better understand prokaryotic gene flux in marine ecosystems and to determine whether or not environmental parameters can effect the composition and structure of plasmid populations in marine bacterial communities, information on the distribution, diversity, and ecological traits of marine plasmids is necessary. This mini-review highlights recent insights gained into the molecular diversity and ecology of plasmids occurring in marine microbial communities.     

A Genomic Toolkit for the Mechanistic Dissection of Intractable Human Gut Bacteria

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