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Bosch TCG, Wigley M, Colomina B, Bohannan B, Meggers F, Amato KR, Azad MB, Blaser MJ, Brown K, Dominguez-Bello MG, Ehrlich SD, Elinav E, Finlay BB, Geddie K, Geva-Zatorsky N, Giles-Vernick T, Gros P, Guillemin K, Haraoui LP, Johnson E, Keck F, Lorimer J, McFall-Ngai MJ, Nichter M, Pettersson S, Poinar H, Rees T, Tropini C, Undurraga EA, Zhao L, Melby MK. The potential importance of the built-environment microbiome and its impact on human health. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313971121. [PMID: 38662573 PMCID: PMC11098107 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313971121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
There is increasing evidence that interactions between microbes and their hosts not only play a role in determining health and disease but also in emotions, thought, and behavior. Built environments greatly influence microbiome exposures because of their built-in highly specific microbiomes coproduced with myriad metaorganisms including humans, pets, plants, rodents, and insects. Seemingly static built structures host complex ecologies of microorganisms that are only starting to be mapped. These microbial ecologies of built environments are directly and interdependently affected by social, spatial, and technological norms. Advances in technology have made these organisms visible and forced the scientific community and architects to rethink gene-environment and microbe interactions respectively. Thus, built environment design must consider the microbiome, and research involving host-microbiome interaction must consider the built-environment. This paradigm shift becomes increasingly important as evidence grows that contemporary built environments are steadily reducing the microbial diversity essential for human health, well-being, and resilience while accelerating the symptoms of human chronic diseases including environmental allergies, and other more life-altering diseases. New models of design are required to balance maximizing exposure to microbial diversity while minimizing exposure to human-associated diseases. Sustained trans-disciplinary research across time (evolutionary, historical, and generational) and space (cultural and geographical) is needed to develop experimental design protocols that address multigenerational multispecies health and health equity in built environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas C. G. Bosch
- Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Kiel24118, Germany
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
| | - Mark Wigley
- Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York, NY10027
| | - Beatriz Colomina
- School of Architecture, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ08544
| | - Brendan Bohannan
- The Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR97403-5289
| | - Forrest Meggers
- Princeton University School of Architecture & Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton, NJ08540
| | - Katherine R. Amato
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL60208
| | - Meghan B. Azad
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0Z3, Canada
- Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P5, Canada
| | - Martin J. Blaser
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MBR3E 3P4, Canada
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ08854-8021
| | - Kate Brown
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Program in Science, Technology and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ08901
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ08901
| | - Stanislav Dusko Ehrlich
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Institute of Neurology, University College London, LondonWC1N 3RX, United Kingdom
| | - Eran Elinav
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Systems Immunology Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot761000, Israel
- Division of Microbiome & Cancer, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, 69120Heidelberg, Germany
| | - B. Brett Finlay
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Kate Geddie
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Medical and Related Sciences Centre, The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1L7, Canada
| | - Naama Geva-Zatorsky
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Technion Integrated Cancer Center, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa3525433, Israel
- Department of Cell Biology and Cancer Science, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa3525433, Israel
| | - Tamara Giles-Vernick
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Anthropology & Ecology of Disease Emergence, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris75015, France
| | - Philippe Gros
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QCH3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Karen Guillemin
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR97403
| | - Louis-Patrick Haraoui
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Université de Sherbrooke, CanadaJ1E 4K8
| | - Elizabeth Johnson
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, IthakaNY14853
| | - Frédéric Keck
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale, Collège de France, Paris75005, France
| | - Jamie Lorimer
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
| | - Margaret J. McFall-Ngai
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, Caltech, Pasadena, CA91125
| | - Mark Nichter
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ85721
| | - Sven Pettersson
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Nanyang Technological University, Singapore637715, Singapore
| | - Hendrik Poinar
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ONL8S 4M4, Canada
| | - Tobias Rees
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- LIMN, Berkeley, CA94708
| | - Carolina Tropini
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology and School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Eduardo A. Undurraga
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Escuela de Gobierno, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago7820436, Chile
| | - Liping Zhao
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ08901
| | - Melissa K. Melby
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ONM5G 1M1, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE19716
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2
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Núñez Casal A. Race and indigeneity in human microbiome science: microbiomisation and the historiality of otherness. HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE LIFE SCIENCES 2024; 46:17. [PMID: 38565750 PMCID: PMC10987353 DOI: 10.1007/s40656-024-00614-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
This article reformulates Stephan Helmreich´s the ¨microbiomisation of race¨ as the historiality of otherness in the foundations of human microbiome science. Through the lens of my ethnographic fieldwork of a transnational community of microbiome scientists that conducted a landmark human microbiome research on indigenous microbes and its affiliated and first personalised microbiome initiative, the American Gut Project, I follow and trace the key actors, experimental systems and onto-epistemic claims in the emergence of human microbiome science a decade ago. In doing so, I show the links between the reinscription of race, comparative research on the microbial genetic variation of human populations and the remining of bioprospected data for personalised medicine. In these unpredictable research movements, the microbiome of non-Western peoples and territories is much more than a side project or a specific approach within the field: it constitutes the nucleus of its experimental system, opening towards subsequent and cumulative research processes and knowledge production in human microbiome science. The article demonstrates that while human microbiome science is articulated upon the microbial 'makeup' of non-wester(nised) communities, societies, and locales, its results and therapeutics are only applicable to medical conditions affecting rich nations (i.e., inflammatory, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases). My reformulation of ¨microbiomisation of race¨ as the condition of possibility of human microbiome science reveals that its individual dimension is sustained by microbial DNA data from human populations through bioprospecting practices and gains meaning through personalised medicine initiatives, informal online networks of pseudoscientific and commodified microbial-related evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Núñez Casal
- Department of Philosophy and Anthropology, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
- Department of Science, Technology, and Society, Institute of Philosophy, Spanish National Research Council (IFS-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
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Imai K, Niwa R, Fujioka M, Ito K. Understanding the quality and safety of food production through the lens of The Microbiome of The Built Environment. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2024; 88:254-259. [PMID: 37994666 DOI: 10.1093/bbb/zbad164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
The Microbiome of the Built Environment (MoBE) is profoundly implicated in various sectors, including food science. The balance between beneficial and pathogenic microbes in these facilities directly influences product quality and public health. Maintaining a careful check on MoBE and external microbes is vital to the food industry to ensure quality control. There is also a risk of contamination in the meat processing facility as well. However, over-sanitization can increase drug-resistant microbes, highlighting the importance of balanced microbial management. Additionally, facility design, influenced by understanding MoBE, can optimize the growth of beneficial microbes and inhibit pathogenic microbes. Microbial mapping, an emerging practice, offers insights into microbial hotspots within facilities, resulting in targeted interventions. As the food industry evolves, the intricate understanding and management of MoBE will be pivotal to ensuring optimal food quality, safety, and innovation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kota Imai
- BIOTA Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- Graduate School of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Ryo Niwa
- BIOTA Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Masaki Fujioka
- BIOTA Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Molecular Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
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4
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Wang N, Wang T, Ning K. Refining biome labeling for large-scale microbial community samples: Leveraging neural networks and transfer learning. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ECOTECHNOLOGY 2024; 17:100304. [PMID: 37635952 PMCID: PMC10457426 DOI: 10.1016/j.ese.2023.100304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
Microbiome research has generated an extensive amount of data, resulting in a wealth of publicly accessible samples. Accurate annotation of these samples is crucial for effectively utilizing microbiome data across scientific disciplines. However, a notable challenge arises from the lack of essential annotations, particularly regarding collection location and sample biome information, which significantly hinders environmental microbiome research. In this study, we introduce Meta-Sorter, a novel approach utilizing neural networks and transfer learning, to enhance biome labeling for thousands of microbiome samples in the MGnify database that have incomplete information. Our findings demonstrate that Meta-Sorter achieved a remarkable accuracy rate of 96.7% in classifying samples among the 16,507 lacking detailed biome annotations. Notably, Meta-Sorter provides precise classifications for representative environmental samples that were previously ambiguously labeled as "Marine" in MGnify, thereby elucidating their specific origins in benthic and water column environments. Moreover, Meta-Sorter effectively distinguishes samples derived from human-environment interactions, enabling clear differentiation between environmental and human-related studies. By improving the completeness of biome label information for numerous microbial community samples, our research facilitates more accurate knowledge discovery across diverse disciplines, with particular implications for environmental research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kang Ning
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-imaging, Center of AI Biology, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China
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5
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Hill MS, Gilbert JA. Microbiology of the built environment: harnessing human-associated built environment research to inform the study and design of animal nests and enclosures. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2023; 87:e0012121. [PMID: 38047636 PMCID: PMC10732082 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00121-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
SUMMARYOver the past decade, hundreds of studies have characterized the microbial communities found in human-associated built environments (BEs). These have focused primarily on how the design and use of our built spaces have shaped human-microbe interactions and how the differential selection of certain taxa or genetic traits has influenced health outcomes. It is now known that the more removed humans are from the natural environment, the greater the risk for the development of autoimmune and allergic diseases, and that indoor spaces can be harsh, selective environments that can increase the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant and virulent phenotypes in surface-bound communities. However, despite the abundance of research that now points to the importance of BEs in determining human-microbe interactions, only a fraction of non-human animal structures have been comparatively explored. It is here, in the context of human-associated BE research, that we consider the microbial ecology of animal-built natural nests and burrows, as well as artificial enclosures, and point to areas of primary interest for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan S. Hill
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Jack A. Gilbert
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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6
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Austin GI, Park H, Meydan Y, Seeram D, Sezin T, Lou YC, Firek BA, Morowitz MJ, Banfield JF, Christiano AM, Pe'er I, Uhlemann AC, Shenhav L, Korem T. Contamination source modeling with SCRuB improves cancer phenotype prediction from microbiome data. Nat Biotechnol 2023; 41:1820-1828. [PMID: 36928429 PMCID: PMC10504420 DOI: 10.1038/s41587-023-01696-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Sequencing-based approaches for the analysis of microbial communities are susceptible to contamination, which could mask biological signals or generate artifactual ones. Methods for in silico decontamination using controls are routinely used, but do not make optimal use of information shared across samples and cannot handle taxa that only partially originate in contamination or leakage of biological material into controls. Here we present Source tracking for Contamination Removal in microBiomes (SCRuB), a probabilistic in silico decontamination method that incorporates shared information across multiple samples and controls to precisely identify and remove contamination. We validate the accuracy of SCRuB in multiple data-driven simulations and experiments, including induced contamination, and demonstrate that it outperforms state-of-the-art methods by an average of 15-20 times. We showcase the robustness of SCRuB across multiple ecosystems, data types and sequencing depths. Demonstrating its applicability to microbiome research, SCRuB facilitates improved predictions of host phenotypes, most notably the prediction of treatment response in melanoma patients using decontaminated tumor microbiome data.
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Affiliation(s)
- George I Austin
- Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Program for Mathematical Genomics, Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Heekuk Park
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yoli Meydan
- Program for Mathematical Genomics, Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dwayne Seeram
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tanya Sezin
- Department of Dermatology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yue Clare Lou
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Brian A Firek
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Michael J Morowitz
- Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jillian F Banfield
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Angela M Christiano
- Department of Dermatology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Itsik Pe'er
- Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Program for Mathematical Genomics, Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Data Science Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anne-Catrin Uhlemann
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Liat Shenhav
- Center for Studies in Physics and Biology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Tal Korem
- Program for Mathematical Genomics, Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program, CIFAR, Toronto, Canada.
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7
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Lokatis S, Jeschke JM, Bernard-Verdier M, Buchholz S, Grossart HP, Havemann F, Hölker F, Itescu Y, Kowarik I, Kramer-Schadt S, Mietchen D, Musseau CL, Planillo A, Schittko C, Straka TM, Heger T. Hypotheses in urban ecology: building a common knowledge base. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1530-1547. [PMID: 37072921 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023]
Abstract
Urban ecology is a rapidly growing research field that has to keep pace with the pressing need to tackle the sustainability crisis. As an inherently multi-disciplinary field with close ties to practitioners and administrators, research synthesis and knowledge transfer between those different stakeholders is crucial. Knowledge maps can enhance knowledge transfer and provide orientation to researchers as well as practitioners. A promising option for developing such knowledge maps is to create hypothesis networks, which structure existing hypotheses and aggregate them according to topics and research aims. Combining expert knowledge with information from the literature, we here identify 62 research hypotheses used in urban ecology and link them in such a network. Our network clusters hypotheses into four distinct themes: (i) Urban species traits & evolution, (ii) Urban biotic communities, (iii) Urban habitats and (iv) Urban ecosystems. We discuss the potentials and limitations of this approach. All information is openly provided as part of an extendable Wikidata project, and we invite researchers, practitioners and others interested in urban ecology to contribute additional hypotheses, as well as comment and add to the existing ones. The hypothesis network and Wikidata project form a first step towards a knowledge base for urban ecology, which can be expanded and curated to benefit both practitioners and researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Lokatis
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstr. 4, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - Jonathan M Jeschke
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Maud Bernard-Verdier
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Sascha Buchholz
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstr. 2, Münster, 48149, Germany
| | - Hans-Peter Grossart
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam University, Maulbeerallee 2, Potsdam, 14469, Germany
| | - Frank Havemann
- Institut für Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Dorotheenstraße 26, Berlin, 10117, Germany
| | - Franz Hölker
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Yuval Itescu
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Ingo Kowarik
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
| | - Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin, 10315, Germany
| | - Daniel Mietchen
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (IGDORE), Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Camille L Musseau
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Aimara Planillo
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin, 10315, Germany
| | - Conrad Schittko
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
| | - Tanja M Straka
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
| | - Tina Heger
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Technical University of Munich, Restoration Ecology, Emil-Ramann-Str. 6, Freising, 85350, Germany
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8
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Young GR, Sherry A, Smith DL. Built environment microbiomes transition from outdoor to human-associated communities after construction and commissioning. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15854. [PMID: 37740013 PMCID: PMC10516947 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42427-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The microbiota of the built environment is linked to usage, materials and, perhaps most importantly, human health. Many studies have attempted to identify ways of modulating microbial communities within built environments to promote health. None have explored how these complex communities assemble initially, following construction of new built environments. This study used high-throughput targeted sequencing approaches to explore bacterial community acquisition and development throughout the construction of a new build. Microbial sampling spanned from site identification, through the construction process to commissioning and use. Following commissioning of the building, bacterial richness and diversity were significantly reduced (P < 0.001) and community structure was altered (R2 = 0.14; P = 0.001). Greater longitudinal community stability was observed in outdoor environments than indoor environments. Community flux in indoor environments was associated with human interventions driving environmental selection, which increased 10.4% in indoor environments following commissioning. Increased environmental selection coincided with a 12% reduction in outdoor community influence on indoor microbiomes (P = 2.00 × 10-15). Indoor communities became significantly enriched with human associated genera including Escherichia, Pseudomonas, and Klebsiella spp. These data represent the first to characterize the initial assembly of bacterial communities in built environments and will inform future studies aiming to modulate built environment microbiota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory R Young
- Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK
- Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Angela Sherry
- Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK
- Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK
| | - Darren L Smith
- Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK.
- Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK.
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9
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Moy M, Diakiw L, Amato KR. Human-influenced diets affect the gut microbiome of wild baboons. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11886. [PMID: 37482555 PMCID: PMC10363530 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38895-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Industrialized diets that incorporate processed foods and are often high in simple sugars and fats and low in fiber have myriad health impacts, many of which may operate via impacts on the gut microbiota. Examining how these diets affect the gut microbiota can be challenging given that lab animal models experience altered environmental contexts, and human studies include a suite of co-varying cultural and environmental factors that are likely to shape the gut microbiota alongside diet. To complement these approaches, we compare the microbiomes of wild populations of olive baboons (Papio anubis) with differential access to human trash high in processed foods, simple sugars, and fats in Rwanda's Akagera National Park. Baboons are a good model system since their microbiomes are compositionally similar to those of humans. Additionally, this population inhabits a common environment with different social groups consuming qualitatively different amounts of human trash, limiting variation in non-dietary factors. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing we find that baboons with unlimited access to human trash have reduced microbial alpha diversity and reduced relative abundances of fiber-degrading taxa such as Ruminococcaceae, Prevotellaceae, and Lachnospiraceae. In contrast, baboons with limited access to human trash have a microbiome more similar to that of baboons with no access to human trash. Our results suggest that while a human-influenced diet high in processed foods, simple sugars, and fats is sufficient to alter the microbiome in wild baboons, there is a minimum threshold of dietary alteration that must occur before the microbiome is substantially altered. We recommend that data from wild primate populations such as these be used to complement ongoing research on diet-microbiome-health interactions in humans and lab animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madelyn Moy
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
| | - Laura Diakiw
- Department of Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA
| | - Katherine R Amato
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
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10
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Hénaff E, Najjar D, Perez M, Flores R, Woebken C, Mason CE, Slavin K. Holobiont Urbanism: sampling urban beehives reveals cities' metagenomes. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOME 2023; 18:23. [PMID: 36991491 PMCID: PMC10060141 DOI: 10.1186/s40793-023-00467-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Over half of the world's population lives in urban areas with, according to the United Nations, nearly 70% expected to live in cities by 2050. Our cities are built by and for humans, but are also complex, adaptive biological systems involving a diversity of other living species. The majority of these species are invisible and constitute the city's microbiome. Our design decisions for the built environment shape these invisible populations, and as inhabitants we interact with them on a constant basis. A growing body of evidence shows us that human health and well-being are dependent on these interactions. Indeed, multicellular organisms owe meaningful aspects of their development and phenotype to interactions with the microorganisms-bacteria or fungi-with which they live in continual exchange and symbiosis. Therefore, it is meaningful to establish microbial maps of the cities we inhabit. While the processing and sequencing of environmental microbiome samples can be high-throughput, gathering samples is still labor and time intensive, and can require mobilizing large numbers of volunteers to get a snapshot of the microbial landscape of a city. RESULTS Here we postulate that honeybees may be effective collaborators in gathering samples of urban microbiota, as they forage daily within a 2-mile radius of their hive. We describe the results of a pilot study conducted with three rooftop beehives in Brooklyn, NY, where we evaluated the potential of various hive materials (honey, debris, hive swabs, bee bodies) to reveal information as to the surrounding metagenomic landscape, and where we conclude that the bee debris are the richest substrate. Based on these results, we profiled 4 additional cities through collected hive debris: Sydney, Melbourne, Venice and Tokyo. We show that each city displays a unique metagenomic profile as seen by honeybees. These profiles yield information relevant to hive health such as known bee symbionts and pathogens. Additionally, we show that this method can be used for human pathogen surveillance, with a proof-of-concept example in which we recover the majority of virulence factor genes for Rickettsia felis, a pathogen known to be responsible for "cat scratch fever". CONCLUSIONS We show that this method yields information relevant to hive health and human health, providing a strategy to monitor environmental microbiomes on a city scale. Here we present the results of this study, and discuss them in terms of architectural implications, as well as the potential of this method for epidemic surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Hénaff
- NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY USA
- Center for Urban Science and Progress, NYU, Brooklyn, NY USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Christopher E. Mason
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY USA
- Weill Cornell Medicine, The HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Institute for Computational Biomedicine, New York, NY USA
- The WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY USA
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11
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Ito K, Niwa R, Kobayashi K, Nakagawa T, Hoshino G, Tsuchida Y. A dark matter in sake brewing: Origin of microbes producing a Kimoto-style fermentation starter. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1112638. [PMID: 36819013 PMCID: PMC9933502 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1112638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction In Kimoto-style fermentation, a fermentation starter is produced before the primary brewing process to stabilize fermentation. Nitrate-reducing bacteria, mainly derived from brewing water, produce nitrite, and lactic acid bacteria such as Leuconostoc can proliferate because of their tolerance toward low temperature and their low nutritional requirements. Later, Lactobacillus becomes the dominant genus, leading to weakly acidic conditions that contribute to control yeasts and undesired bacterial contaminants. However, the sources of these microorganisms that play a pivotal role in Sake brewing have not yet been revealed. Thus, comprehensive elucidation of the microbiome is necessary. Methods In this study, we performed 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing analysis after sampling from floor, equipment surfaces, and raw materials for making fermentation starters, including koji, and water in Tsuchida Sake brewery, Gunma, Japan. Results Amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) between the external environments and the fermentation starter were compared, and it was verified that the microorganisms in the external environments, such as built environments, equipment surfaces, and raw materials in the sake brewery, were introduced into the fermentation starter. Furthermore, various adventitious microbes present in the fermentation starter of early days and from the external environments were detected in a nonnegligible proportion in the starter, which may impact the taste and flavor. Discussion These findings illuminate the uncharacterized microbial dark matter of sake brewing, the sources of microbes in Kimoto-style fermentation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ryo Niwa
- BIOTA Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Tomoyuki Nakagawa
- Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
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12
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Huang Z, Li Y, Park H, Ho M, Bhardwaj K, Sugimura N, Lee HW, Meng H, Ebert MP, Chao K, Burgermeister E, Bhatt AP, Shetty SA, Li K, Wen W, Zuo T. Unveiling and harnessing the human gut microbiome in the rising burden of non-communicable diseases during urbanization. Gut Microbes 2023; 15:2237645. [PMID: 37498052 PMCID: PMC10376922 DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2237645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The world is witnessing a global increase in the urban population, particularly in developing Asian and African countries. Concomitantly, the global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is rising, markedly associated with the changing landscape of lifestyle and environment during urbanization. Accumulating studies have revealed the role of the gut microbiome in regulating the immune and metabolic homeostasis of the host, which potentially bridges external factors to the host (patho-)physiology. In this review, we discuss the rising incidences of NCDs during urbanization and their links to the compositional and functional dysbiosis of the gut microbiome. In particular, we elucidate the effects of urbanization-associated factors (hygiene/pollution, urbanized diet, lifestyles, the use of antibiotics, and early life exposure) on the gut microbiome underlying the pathogenesis of NCDs. We also discuss the potential and feasibility of microbiome-inspired and microbiome-targeted approaches as novel avenues to counteract NCDs, including fecal microbiota transplantation, diet modulation, probiotics, postbiotics, synbiotics, celobiotics, and precision antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyu Huang
- Key Laboratory of Human Microbiome and Chronic Diseases, Sun Yat-Sen University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Biomedical Innovation Centre, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yue Li
- Key Laboratory of Human Microbiome and Chronic Diseases, Sun Yat-Sen University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Biomedical Innovation Centre, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Heekuk Park
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Columbia University Irving Medical Centre, New York, NY, USA
| | - Martin Ho
- Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Kanchan Bhardwaj
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Haryana, India
| | - Naoki Sugimura
- Gastrointestinal Centre and Institute of Minimally-Invasive Endoscopic Care (iMEC), Sano Hospital, Kobe, Japan
| | - Hye Won Lee
- Institute of Gastroenterology and Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
| | - Huicui Meng
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-Sen University, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Province Engineering Laboratory for Nutrition Translation, Guangzhou, China
| | - Matthias P. Ebert
- Department of Medicine II, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
- DKFZ-Hector Cancer Institute, Mannheim, Germany
- Mannheim Cancer Centre (MCC), University Medical Centre Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Kang Chao
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of Gastroenterology, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Elke Burgermeister
- Department of Medicine II, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Aadra P. Bhatt
- Department of Medicine, Centre for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Centre, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Sudarshan A. Shetty
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Kai Li
- Key Laboratory of Human Microbiome and Chronic Diseases, Sun Yat-Sen University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Weiping Wen
- Key Laboratory of Human Microbiome and Chronic Diseases, Sun Yat-Sen University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Biomedical Innovation Centre, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tao Zuo
- Key Laboratory of Human Microbiome and Chronic Diseases, Sun Yat-Sen University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- Biomedical Innovation Centre, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
- The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
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13
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Haffner JJ, Katemauswa M, Kagone TS, Hossain E, Jacobson D, Flores K, Parab AR, Obregon-Tito AJ, Tito RY, Reyes LM, Troncoso-Corzo L, Guija-Poma E, Meda N, Carabin H, Honap TP, Sankaranarayanan K, Lewis CM, McCall LI. Untargeted Fecal Metabolomic Analyses across an Industrialization Gradient Reveal Shared Metabolites and Impact of Industrialization on Fecal Microbiome-Metabolome Interactions. mSystems 2022; 7:e0071022. [PMID: 36416540 PMCID: PMC9765122 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00710-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The metabolome is a central determinant of human phenotypes and includes the plethora of small molecules produced by host and microbiome or taken up from exogenous sources. However, studies of the metabolome have so far focused predominantly on urban, industrialized populations. Through an untargeted metabolomic analysis of 90 fecal samples from human individuals from Africa and the Americas-the birthplace and the last continental expansion of our species, respectively-we characterized a shared human fecal metabolome. The majority of detected metabolite features were ubiquitous across populations, despite any geographic, dietary, or behavioral differences. Such shared metabolite features included hyocholic acid and cholesterol. However, any characterization of the shared human fecal metabolome is insufficient without exploring the influence of industrialization. Here, we show chemical differences along an industrialization gradient, where the degree of industrialization correlates with metabolomic changes. We identified differential metabolite features such as amino acid-conjugated bile acids and urobilin as major metabolic correlates of these behavioral shifts. Additionally, coanalyses with over 5,000 publicly available human fecal samples and cooccurrence probability analyses with the gut microbiome highlight connections between the human fecal metabolome and gut microbiome. Our results indicate that industrialization significantly influences the human fecal metabolome, but diverse human lifestyles and behavior still maintain a shared human fecal metabolome. This study represents the first characterization of the shared human fecal metabolome through untargeted analyses of populations along an industrialization gradient. IMPORTANCE As the world becomes increasingly industrialized, understanding the biological consequences of these lifestyle shifts and what it means for past, present, and future human health is critical. Indeed, industrialization is associated with rises in allergic and autoimmune health conditions and reduced microbial diversity. Exploring these health effects on a chemical level requires consideration of human lifestyle diversity, but understanding the significance of any differences also requires knowledge of what molecular components are shared between human groups. Our study reveals the key chemistry of the human gut as defined by varied industrialization-based differences and ubiquitous shared features. Ultimately, these novel findings extend our knowledge of human molecular biology, especially as it is influenced by lifestyle and behavior, and provide steps toward understanding how human biology has changed over our species' history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob J. Haffner
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Mitchelle Katemauswa
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Thérèse S. Kagone
- Burkina Faso Ministry of Health, Ouagadougou, Kadiogo, Burkina Faso
- Centre MURAZ Research Institute, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
| | - Ekram Hossain
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - David Jacobson
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Karina Flores
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Adwaita R. Parab
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Alexandra J. Obregon-Tito
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Raul Y. Tito
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | | | | | - Emilio Guija-Poma
- Centro de Investigación de Bioquímica y Nutrición, Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad de San Martín de Porres, Lima, Perú
| | - Nicolas Meda
- Burkina Faso Ministry of Health, Ouagadougou, Kadiogo, Burkina Faso
| | - Hélène Carabin
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
- Département de Pathologie et Microbiologie, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada
- Département de Médecine Sociale et Préventive, École de Santé Publique de l’Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
- Centre de Recherche en Santé Publique (CReSP) de l’Université de Montréal et du CIUSS du Centre Sud de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Tanvi P. Honap
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Cecil M. Lewis
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Laura-Isobel McCall
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR), University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
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14
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Johnston JD, Cowger AE, Weber KS. Bioaerosol and microbial exposures from residential evaporative coolers and their potential health outcomes: A review. INDOOR AIR 2022; 32:e13082. [PMID: 36168234 PMCID: PMC9826010 DOI: 10.1111/ina.13082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Evaporative cooling is an energy efficient form of air conditioning in dry climates that functions by pulling hot, dry outdoor air across a wet evaporative pad. While evaporative coolers can help save energy, they also have the potential to influence human health. Studies have shown residential evaporative coolers may pull outdoor air pollutants into the home or contribute to elevated levels of indoor bioaerosols that may be harmful to health. There is also evidence that evaporative coolers can enable a diverse microbial environment that may confer early-life immunological protection against the development of allergies and asthma or exacerbate these same hypersensitivities. This review summarizes the current knowledge of bioaerosol and microbiological studies associated with evaporative coolers, focusing on harmful and potentially helpful outcomes from their use. We evaluate the effects of evaporative coolers on indoor bacterial endotoxins, fungal β-(1 → 3)-D-glucans, dust mite antigens, residential microbial communities, and Legionella pneumophila. To our knowledge, this is the first review to summarize and evaluate studies on the influence that evaporative coolers have on the bioaerosol and microbiological profile of homes. This brings to light a gap in the literature on evaporative coolers, which is the lack of data on health effects associated with their use.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - K. Scott Weber
- Department of Microbiology & Molecular BiologyBrigham Young UniversityProvoUtahUSA
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15
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Schwensow NI, Heni AC, Schmid J, Montero BK, Brändel SD, Halczok TK, Mayer G, Fackelmann G, Wilhelm K, Schmid DW, Sommer S. Disentangling direct from indirect effects of habitat disturbance on multiple components of biodiversity. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:2220-2234. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Alexander Christoph Heni
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Ancón Panama
| | - Julian Schmid
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Ancón Panama
| | - B. Karina Montero
- Animal Ecology and Conservation Hamburg University Hamburg Germany
- Biodiversity Research Institute, Campus of Mieres, Universidad de Oviedo Mieres Spain
| | - Stefan Dominik Brändel
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Ancón Panama
| | | | - Gerd Mayer
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
| | - Gloria Fackelmann
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
| | - Kerstin Wilhelm
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
| | - Dominik Werner Schmid
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
| | - Simone Sommer
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University Ulm Germany
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16
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Martino C, McDonald D, Cantrell K, Dilmore AH, Vázquez-Baeza Y, Shenhav L, Shaffer JP, Rahman G, Armstrong G, Allaband C, Song SJ, Knight R. Compositionally Aware Phylogenetic Beta-Diversity Measures Better Resolve Microbiomes Associated with Phenotype. mSystems 2022; 7:e0005022. [PMID: 35477286 PMCID: PMC9238373 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00050-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbiome data have several specific characteristics (sparsity and compositionality) that introduce challenges in data analysis. The integration of prior information regarding the data structure, such as phylogenetic structure and repeated-measure study designs, into analysis, is an effective approach for revealing robust patterns in microbiome data. Past methods have addressed some but not all of these challenges and features: for example, robust principal-component analysis (RPCA) addresses sparsity and compositionality; compositional tensor factorization (CTF) addresses sparsity, compositionality, and repeated measure study designs; and UniFrac incorporates phylogenetic information. Here we introduce a strategy of incorporating phylogenetic information into RPCA and CTF. The resulting methods, phylo-RPCA, and phylo-CTF, provide substantial improvements over state-of-the-art methods in terms of discriminatory power of underlying clustering ranging from the mode of delivery to adult human lifestyle. We demonstrate quantitatively that the addition of phylogenetic information improves effect size and classification accuracy in both data-driven simulated data and real microbiome data. IMPORTANCE Microbiome data analysis can be difficult because of particular data features, some unavoidable and some due to technical limitations of DNA sequencing instruments. The first step in many analyses that ultimately reveals patterns of similarities and differences among sets of samples (e.g., separating samples from sick and healthy people or samples from seawater versus soil) is calculating the difference between each pair of samples. We introduce two new methods to calculate these differences that combine features of past methods, specifically being able to take into account the principles that most types of microbes are not in most samples (sparsity), that abundances are relative rather than absolute (compositionality), and that all microbes have a shared evolutionary history (phylogeny). We show using simulated and real data that our new methods provide improved classification accuracy of ordinal sample clusters and increased effect size between sample groups on beta-diversity distances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron Martino
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Daniel McDonald
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Kalen Cantrell
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Amanda Hazel Dilmore
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
- Biomedical Sciences Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Yoshiki Vázquez-Baeza
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Liat Shenhav
- Center For Studies in Physics and Biology, Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Justin P. Shaffer
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Gibraan Rahman
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - George Armstrong
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Celeste Allaband
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
- Biomedical Sciences Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Se Jin Song
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Rob Knight
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego. La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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17
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Tesei D, Jewczynko A, Lynch AM, Urbaniak C. Understanding the Complexities and Changes of the Astronaut Microbiome for Successful Long-Duration Space Missions. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12040495. [PMID: 35454986 PMCID: PMC9031868 DOI: 10.3390/life12040495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
During space missions, astronauts are faced with a variety of challenges that are unique to spaceflight and that have been known to cause physiological changes in humans over a period of time. Several of these changes occur at the microbiome level, a complex ensemble of microbial communities residing in various anatomic sites of the human body, with a pivotal role in regulating the health and behavior of the host. The microbiome is essential for day-to-day physiological activities, and alterations in microbiome composition and function have been linked to various human diseases. For these reasons, understanding the impact of spaceflight and space conditions on the microbiome of astronauts is important to assess significant health risks that can emerge during long-term missions and to develop countermeasures. Here, we review various conditions that are caused by long-term space exploration and discuss the role of the microbiome in promoting or ameliorating these conditions, as well as space-related factors that impact microbiome composition. The topics explored pertain to microgravity, radiation, immunity, bone health, cognitive function, gender differences and pharmacomicrobiomics. Connections are made between the trifecta of spaceflight, the host and the microbiome, and the significance of these interactions for successful long-term space missions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donatella Tesei
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria;
| | - Anna Jewczynko
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada;
| | - Anne M. Lynch
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
- Graduate Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Camilla Urbaniak
- ZIN Technologies Inc., Middleburg Heights, OH 44130, USA
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Correspondence:
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18
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Wallenborn JT, Vonaesch P. OUP accepted manuscript. Gastroenterol Rep (Oxf) 2022; 10:goac010. [PMID: 35419206 PMCID: PMC8996373 DOI: 10.1093/gastro/goac010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in health and changes in its composition are linked with major global human diseases. Fully understanding what shapes the human intestinal microbiota composition and knowing ways of modulating the composition are critical for promotion of life-course health, combating diseases, and reducing global health disparities. We aim to provide a foundation for understanding what shapes the human intestinal microbiota on an individual and global scale, and how interventions could utilize this information to promote life-course health and reduce global health disparities. We briefly review experiences within the first 1,000 days of life and how long-term exposures to environmental elements or geographic specific cultures have lasting impacts on the intestinal microbiota. We also discuss major public health threats linked to the intestinal microbiota, including antimicrobial resistance and disappearing microbial diversity due to globalization. In order to promote global health, we argue that the interplay of the larger ecosystem with intestinal microbiota research should be utilized for future research and urge for global efforts to conserve microbial diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordyn T Wallenborn
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
- University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Pascale Vonaesch
- Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Bâtiment Biophore Campus UNIL-Sorge, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Corresponding author. Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Tel: +41-21-692-5600;
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19
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Kuthyar S, Reese AT. Variation in Microbial Exposure at the Human-Animal Interface and the Implications for Microbiome-Mediated Health Outcome. mSystems 2021; 6:e0056721. [PMID: 34342530 PMCID: PMC8407385 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00567-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The human gut microbiome varies between populations, largely reflecting ecological differences. One ecological variable that is rarely considered but may contribute substantially to microbiome variation is the multifaceted nature of human-animal interfaces. We present the hypothesis that different interactions with animals contribute to shaping the human microbiome globally. We utilize a One Health framework to explore how changes in microbial exposure from human-animal interfaces shape the microbiome and, in turn, contribute to differential human health across populations, focusing on commensal and pathogen exposure, changes in colonization resistance and immune system training, and the potential for other functional shifts. Although human-animal interfaces are known to underlie human health and particularly infectious disease disparities, since their impact on the human microbiome remains woefully understudied, we propose foci for future research. We believe it will be crucial to understand this critical aspect of biology and its impacts on human health around the globe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahana Kuthyar
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Aspen T. Reese
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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20
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Mills S, Ross RP. Colliding and interacting microbiomes and microbial communities - consequences for human health. Environ Microbiol 2021; 23:7341-7354. [PMID: 34390616 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Living 'things' coexist with microorganisms, known as the microbiota/microbiome that provides essential physiological functions to its host. Despite this reliance, the microbiome is malleable and can be altered by several factors including birth-mode, age, antibiotics, nutrition, and disease. In this minireview, we consider how other microbiomes and microbial communities impact the host microbiome and the host through the concept of microbiome collisions (initial exposures) and interactions. Interactions include changes in host microbiome composition and functionality and/or host responses. Understanding the impact of other microbiomes and microbial communities on the microbiome and host are important considering the decline in human microbiota diversity in the developed world - paralleled by the surge of non-communicable, inflammatory-based diseases. Thus, surrounding ourselves with rich and diverse beneficial microbiomes and microbial communities to collide and interact with should help to diminish the loss in microbial diversity and protect from certain diseases. In the same vein, our microbiomes not only influence our health but potentially the health of those close to us. We also consider strategies for enhanced host microbiome collisions and interactions through the surrounding environment that ensure increased microbiome diversity and functionality contributing to enhanced symbiotic return to the host in terms of health benefit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Mills
- APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
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21
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Chen Y, Martinez A, Cleavenger S, Rudolph J, Barberán A. Changes in Soil Microbial Communities across an Urbanization Gradient: A Local-Scale Temporal Study in the Arid Southwestern USA. Microorganisms 2021; 9:microorganisms9071470. [PMID: 34361905 PMCID: PMC8305102 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9071470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Urban development is one of the leading causes of biodiversity change. Understanding how soil microorganisms respond to urbanization is particularly important because they are crucial for the provisioning of ecosystem functions and services. Here, we collected monthly soil samples over one year across three locations representing an urbanization gradient (low-moderate-high) in the arid Southwestern USA, and we characterized their microbial communities using marker gene sequencing. Our results showed that microbial richness and community composition exhibited nonsignificant changes over time regardless of the location. Soil fungal richness was lower in moderately and highly urbanized locations, but soil bacterial/archaeal richness was not significantly different among locations. Both bacteria/archaea and fungi exhibited significant differences in community composition across locations. After inferring potential functional groups, soils in the highly urbanized location had lower proportions of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and soil saprotrophic fungi but had higher proportions of bacterial taxa involved in aromatic compound degradation, human pathogens, and intracellular parasites. Furthermore, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were more abundant in the highly urbanized location, but ammonia-oxidizing archaea were more abundant in lowly and moderately urbanized locations. Together, these results highlight the significant changes in belowground microbial communities across an urbanization gradient, and these changes might have important implications for aboveground–belowground interactions, nutrient cycling, and human health.
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22
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Leung MHY, Tong X, Bøifot KO, Bezdan D, Butler DJ, Danko DC, Gohli J, Green DC, Hernandez MT, Kelly FJ, Levy S, Mason-Buck G, Nieto-Caballero M, Syndercombe-Court D, Udekwu K, Young BG, Mason CE, Dybwad M, Lee PKH. Characterization of the public transit air microbiome and resistome reveals geographical specificity. MICROBIOME 2021; 9:112. [PMID: 34039416 PMCID: PMC8157753 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-021-01044-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The public transit is a built environment with high occupant density across the globe, and identifying factors shaping public transit air microbiomes will help design strategies to minimize the transmission of pathogens. However, the majority of microbiome works dedicated to the public transit air are limited to amplicon sequencing, and our knowledge regarding the functional potentials and the repertoire of resistance genes (i.e. resistome) is limited. Furthermore, current air microbiome investigations on public transit systems are focused on single cities, and a multi-city assessment of the public transit air microbiome will allow a greater understanding of whether and how broad environmental, building, and anthropogenic factors shape the public transit air microbiome in an international scale. Therefore, in this study, the public transit air microbiomes and resistomes of six cities across three continents (Denver, Hong Kong, London, New York City, Oslo, Stockholm) were characterized. RESULTS City was the sole factor associated with public transit air microbiome differences, with diverse taxa identified as drivers for geography-associated functional potentials, concomitant with geographical differences in species- and strain-level inferred growth profiles. Related bacterial strains differed among cities in genes encoding resistance, transposase, and other functions. Sourcetracking estimated that human skin, soil, and wastewater were major presumptive resistome sources of public transit air, and adjacent public transit surfaces may also be considered presumptive sources. Large proportions of detected resistance genes were co-located with mobile genetic elements including plasmids. Biosynthetic gene clusters and city-unique coding sequences were found in the metagenome-assembled genomes. CONCLUSIONS Overall, geographical specificity transcends multiple aspects of the public transit air microbiome, and future efforts on a global scale are warranted to increase our understanding of factors shaping the microbiome of this unique built environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- M H Y Leung
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - X Tong
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - K O Bøifot
- Comprehensive Defence Division, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment FFI, Kjeller, Norway
- Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - D Bezdan
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - D J Butler
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - D C Danko
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - J Gohli
- Comprehensive Defence Division, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment FFI, Kjeller, Norway
| | - D C Green
- Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - M T Hernandez
- Environmental Engineering Program, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - F J Kelly
- Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - S Levy
- HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL, USA
| | - G Mason-Buck
- Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - M Nieto-Caballero
- Environmental Engineering Program, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - D Syndercombe-Court
- Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - K Udekwu
- Department of Aquatic Sciences & Assessment, Swedish University of Agriculture, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - B G Young
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - C E Mason
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- The HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- The WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- The Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - M Dybwad
- Comprehensive Defence Division, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment FFI, Kjeller, Norway.
- Department of Analytical, Environmental & Forensic Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
| | - P K H Lee
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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23
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Rai S, Singh DK, Kumar A. Microbial, environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing the indoor microbiome of the built environment. J Basic Microbiol 2021; 61:267-292. [PMID: 33522603 DOI: 10.1002/jobm.202000575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Revised: 01/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
A built environment is a human-made environment providing surroundings for human occupancy, activities, and settlement. It is supposed to safeguard humans from all undesirable and harmful pollutants; however, indoor concentrations of some pollutants are much greater than that of the outdoors. Bioaerosols infiltrate from the outdoors in addition to many indoor sources of bioaerosols including the use of various chemicals as well as activities like cooking, smoking, cleaning, or even normal movement. They are also associated with a number of serious health concerns. Various ecological factors associated with the generation, the persistence as well as the dispersal of these microbial components of indoor bioaerosols, are discussed in this review, that have not been considered all together till now. The factors like microbial taxa, environmental factors, and anthropogenic activities (human occupancy, activities, and impact of urbanization) are addressed in the review. Effects of both indoor environmental factors like architectural design, lighting, ventilation, temperature, humidity, indoor/outdoor ratio, particulate matter, indoor chemistry as well as outdoor environmental factors like geography, seasons, and meteorology on the microbial concentrations have been discussed. Efforts are underway to design selective pressures for microbes to create a healthy symbiotic built microbiome as the "right" indoor microbiome is a "healthy" indoor microbiome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandhya Rai
- Department of Zoology, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Dileep K Singh
- Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Amod Kumar
- Department of Zoology, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
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24
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Fuhrmeister ER, Ercumen A, Grembi JA, Islam M, Pickering AJ, Nelson KL. Shared bacterial communities between soil, stored drinking water, and hands in rural Bangladeshi households. WATER RESEARCH X 2020; 9:100056. [PMID: 32529181 PMCID: PMC7276488 DOI: 10.1016/j.wroa.2020.100056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Understanding household-level transmission pathways of fecal pathogens can provide insight for developing effective strategies to reduce diarrheal illness in low- and middle-income countries. We applied whole bacterial community analysis to investigate pathways of bacterial transmission in 50 rural Bangladeshi households. SourceTracker was used to quantify the shared microbial community in household reservoirs (stored drinking water, soil, and hands) and estimate the percentage of fecal-associated bacteria from child and mothers' feces in these reservoirs. Among the reservoirs studied, most bacterial transfer occurred between mothers' and children's hands and between mothers' hands and stored water. The relative percentage of human fecal-associated bacteria in all household reservoirs was low. We also quantified the number of identical amplicon sequence variants within and between individual households to assess bacterial community exchange in the domestic environment. Intra-household sharing of bacteria between mothers' and children's hands and between hands and soil was significantly greater than inter-household sharing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica R. Fuhrmeister
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
| | - Ayse Ercumen
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27607, United States
| | - Jessica A. Grembi
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, United States
| | - Mahfuza Islam
- Environmental Intervention Unit, Infectious Disease Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh
| | - Amy J. Pickering
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02153, United States
| | - Kara L. Nelson
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
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25
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Narat V, Amato KR, Ranger N, Salmona M, Mercier-Delarue S, Rupp S, Ambata P, Njouom R, Simon F, Giles-Vernick T, LeGoff J. A multi-disciplinary comparison of great ape gut microbiota in a central African forest and European zoo. Sci Rep 2020; 10:19107. [PMID: 33154444 PMCID: PMC7645722 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75847-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Comparisons of mammalian gut microbiota across different environmental conditions shed light on the diversity and composition of gut bacteriome and suggest consequences for human and animal health. Gut bacteriome comparisons across different environments diverge in their results, showing no generalizable patterns linking habitat and dietary degradation with bacterial diversity. The challenge in drawing general conclusions from such studies lies in the broad terms describing diverse habitats ("wild", "captive", "pristine"). We conducted 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing to characterize intestinal microbiota of free-ranging sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas in southeastern Cameroon and sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas in a European zoo. We conducted participant-observation and semi-structured interviews among people living near these great apes to understand better their feeding habits and habitats. Unexpectedly, bacterial diversity (ASV, Faith PD and Shannon) was higher among zoo gorillas than among those in the Cameroonian forest, but zoo and Cameroonian chimpanzees showed no difference. Phylogeny was a strong driver of species-specific microbial composition. Surprisingly, zoo gorilla microbiota more closely resembled that of zoo chimpanzees than of Cameroonian gorillas. Zoo living conditions and dietary similarities may explain these results. We encourage multidisciplinary approach integrating environmental sampling and anthropological evaluation to characterize better diverse environmental conditions of such investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Narat
- Eco-anthropologie, UMR7206 CNRS/MNHN/Université de Paris, Site du Musée de L'Homme, Paris, France
- Institut Pasteur, Anthropology and Ecology of Disease Emergence Unit, Paris, France
| | - Katherine R Amato
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
- Humans and the Microbiome, CIFAR, Toronto, Canada
| | - Noémie Ranger
- Université de Paris, Equipe INSIGHT, Inserm U976, 75010, Paris, France
| | - Maud Salmona
- Université de Paris, Equipe INSIGHT, Inserm U976, 75010, Paris, France
- Département des Agents Infectieux, Virologie et Greffes, AP-HP, Hôpital Saint-Louis, 75010, Paris, France
| | | | - Stephanie Rupp
- Department of Anthropology, City University of New York - Lehman College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Philippe Ambata
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Yaounde, Cameroon
| | | | - François Simon
- Université de Paris, Equipe INSIGHT, Inserm U976, 75010, Paris, France
| | - Tamara Giles-Vernick
- Institut Pasteur, Anthropology and Ecology of Disease Emergence Unit, Paris, France.
- Humans and the Microbiome, CIFAR, Toronto, Canada.
| | - Jérôme LeGoff
- Université de Paris, Equipe INSIGHT, Inserm U976, 75010, Paris, France.
- Département des Agents Infectieux, Virologie et Greffes, AP-HP, Hôpital Saint-Louis, 75010, Paris, France.
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26
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Bacterial communities in the natural and supplemental nests of an endangered ecosystem engineer. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
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27
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Vargas-Robles D, Gonzalez-Cedillo C, Hernandez AM, Alcaraz LD, Peimbert M. Passenger-surface microbiome interactions in the subway of Mexico City. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0237272. [PMID: 32813719 PMCID: PMC7437895 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Interaction between hands and the environment permits the interchange of microorganisms. The Mexico City subway is used daily by millions of passengers that get in contact with its surfaces. In this study, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the microbiomes of frequently touched surfaces and compare regular and women-only wagons. We also explored the effect of surface cleaning on microbial resettling. Finally, we studied passenger behavior and characterized microbial changes after traveling. Most passengers (99%), showed some type of surface interaction during a wagon trip, mostly with the hands (92%). We found microbiome differences associated with surfaces, probably reflecting diverse surface materials and usage frequency. The platform floor was the most bacterial diverse surface, while the stair handrail and pole were the least diverse ones. After pole cleaning, the resettling of microbial diversity was fast (5–30 minutes); however, it did not resemble the initial composition. After traveling, passengers significantly increased their hand microbial diversity and converged to a similar microbial composition among passengers. Additionally, passenger hand microbiomes resembled subway surfaces in diversity. However, microbial fingerprints were preserved within passengers after traveling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Vargas-Robles
- Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Unidad Cuajimalpa, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Carolina Gonzalez-Cedillo
- Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Unidad Cuajimalpa, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Ciudad de México, México
- Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Apolinar M. Hernandez
- Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Unidad Cuajimalpa, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Luis D. Alcaraz
- Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Mariana Peimbert
- Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Unidad Cuajimalpa, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Ciudad de México, México
- * E-mail:
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28
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Abstract
The human microbiome has been identified as having a key role in health and numerous diseases. Trillions of microbial cells and viral particles comprise the microbiome, each representing modifiable working elements of an intricate bioactive ecosystem. The significance of the human microbiome as it relates to human biology has progressed through culture-dependent (for example, media-based methods) and, more recently, molecular (for example, genetic sequencing and metabolomic analysis) techniques. The latter have become increasingly popular and evolved from being used for taxonomic identification of microbiota to elucidation of functional capacity (sequencing) and metabolic activity (metabolomics). This review summarises key elements of the human microbiome and its metabolic capabilities within the context of health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wiley Barton
- Department of Food Biosciences, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, P61C996, Ireland.,APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, T12YT20, Ireland.,VistaMilk SFI Research Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, P61C996, Ireland
| | - Orla O'Sullivan
- Department of Food Biosciences, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, P61C996, Ireland.,APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, T12YT20, Ireland.,VistaMilk SFI Research Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, P61C996, Ireland
| | - Paul D Cotter
- Department of Food Biosciences, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, P61C996, Ireland.,APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, T12YT20, Ireland.,VistaMilk SFI Research Centre, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Cork, P61C996, Ireland
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29
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Home chemical and microbial transitions across urbanization. Nat Microbiol 2019; 5:108-115. [PMID: 31686026 PMCID: PMC7895447 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-019-0593-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 09/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Urbanization represents a profound shift in human behavior, with significant cultural and health-associated consequences2,3. Here we investigate chemical and microbial characteristics of houses and their human occupants across an urbanization gradient in the Amazon rainforest, from a remote Peruvian Amerindian village to the Brazilian city of Manaus. Urbanization was associated with reduced microbial outdoor exposure, increased contact with housing materials, antimicrobials, and cleaning products, and increased exposure to chemical diversity. Urbanization degree correlated with changes in house bacterial and micro-eukaryotic community composition, increased house and skin fungal diversity, and increased relative abundance of human skin-associated fungi and bacteria in houses. Overall, our results indicate large-scale effects of urbanization on chemical and microbial exposures and on the human microbiota.
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30
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Mora M, Wink L, Kögler I, Mahnert A, Rettberg P, Schwendner P, Demets R, Cockell C, Alekhova T, Klingl A, Krause R, Zolotariof A, Alexandrova A, Moissl-Eichinger C. Space Station conditions are selective but do not alter microbial characteristics relevant to human health. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3990. [PMID: 31488812 PMCID: PMC6728350 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11682-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The International Space Station (ISS) is a unique habitat for humans and microorganisms. Here, we report the results of the ISS experiment EXTREMOPHILES, including the analysis of microbial communities from several areas aboard at three time points. We assess microbial diversity, distribution, functional capacity and resistance profile using a combination of cultivation-independent analyses (amplicon and shot-gun sequencing) and cultivation-dependent analyses (physiological and genetic characterization of microbial isolates, antibiotic resistance tests, co-incubation experiments). We show that the ISS microbial communities are highly similar to those present in ground-based confined indoor environments and are subject to fluctuations, although a core microbiome persists over time and locations. The genomic and physiological features selected by ISS conditions do not appear to be directly relevant to human health, although adaptations towards biofilm formation and surface interactions were observed. Our results do not raise direct reason for concern with respect to crew health, but indicate a potential threat towards material integrity in moist areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Mora
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Lisa Wink
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Ines Kögler
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Alexander Mahnert
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Petra Rettberg
- German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Radiation Biology Department, Research Group Astrobiology, Linder Höhe, 51147, Cologne, Germany
| | - Petra Schwendner
- University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
| | - René Demets
- European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
| | - Charles Cockell
- University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
| | - Tatiana Alekhova
- Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biological Faculty, ul. Leninskiye Gory, 1, стр. 12, Moscow, Russia
| | - Andreas Klingl
- Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Plant Development and Electron Microscopy, Department of Biology I, Biocenter, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Robert Krause
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria
- BioTechMed Graz, Mozartgasse 12/II, 8010, Graz, Austria
| | - Anna Zolotariof
- University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
| | - Alina Alexandrova
- Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biological Faculty, ul. Leninskiye Gory, 1, стр. 12, Moscow, Russia
| | - Christine Moissl-Eichinger
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria.
- BioTechMed Graz, Mozartgasse 12/II, 8010, Graz, Austria.
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Chen C, He R, Cheng Z, Han M, Zha Y, Yang P, Yao Q, Zhou H, Zhong C, Ning K. The Seasonal Dynamics and the Influence of Human Activities on Campus Outdoor Microbial Communities. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:1579. [PMID: 31354673 PMCID: PMC6636667 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Large-scale campus resembles a small “semi-open community,” harboring disturbances from the exchanges of people and vehicles, wherein stressors such as temperature and population density differ among the ground surfaces of functional partitions. Therefore, it represents a special ecological niche for the study on microbial ecology in the process of urbanization. In this study, we investigated outdoor microbial communities in four campuses in Wuhan, China. We obtained 284 samples from 55 sampling sites over six seasons, as well as their matching climatic and environmental records. The structure of campus outdoor microbial communities which influenced by multiple climatic factors featured seasonality. The dispersal influence of human activities on microbial communities also contributed to this seasonal pattern non-negligibly. However, despite the microbial composition alteration in response to multiple stressors, the overall predicted function of campus outdoor microbial communities remained stable across campuses. The spatial–temporal dynamic patterns on campus outdoor microbial communities and its predicted functions have bridged the gap between microbial and macro-level ecosystems, and provided hints toward a better understanding of the effects of climatic factors and human activities on campus micro-environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chaoyun Chen
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Ruiqiao He
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhangyu Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Maozhen Han
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yuguo Zha
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Pengshuo Yang
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Qi Yao
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Hao Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Chaofang Zhong
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Kang Ning
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular-Imaging, Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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32
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Miller ET, Bohannan BJM. Life Between Patches: Incorporating Microbiome Biology Alters the Predictions of Metacommunity Models. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
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Christoff AP, Sereia AFR, Hernandes C, de Oliveira LFV. Uncovering the hidden microbiota in hospital and built environments: New approaches and solutions. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2019; 244:534-542. [PMID: 30616384 PMCID: PMC6547007 DOI: 10.1177/1535370218821857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
IMPACT STATEMENT Research concerning the microbiome of indoor environments like hospitals, houses or buildings could have several implications for human health. Today, there is an ongoing shift in the paradigm of microbial analysis, from single isolated bacterial samples to entire microbiome profiles using high-throughput DNA sequencing methods. The use of sequencing methods in several studies has revealed an unprecedented microbial diversity in indoor environments, leading to a larger comprehension of the entire microbiome context. Here, we present a review of these microbiome studies using high-throughput DNA sequencing, including some new approaches and ideas that can be broadly applied in microbial tracking and epidemiological surveillance of indoor environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana P Christoff
- Neoprospecta Microbiome Technologies, CEP 88057-260, SC –
Brasil
| | - Aline FR Sereia
- Neoprospecta Microbiome Technologies, CEP 88057-260, SC –
Brasil
| | - Camila Hernandes
- Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, CEP 05651-901, SP
– Brasil
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Merino N, Zhang S, Tomita M, Suzuki H. Comparative genomics of Bacteria commonly identified in the built environment. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:92. [PMID: 30691394 PMCID: PMC6350394 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-018-5389-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2018] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The microbial community of the built environment (BE) can impact the lives of people and has been studied for a variety of indoor, outdoor, underground, and extreme locations. Thus far, these microorganisms have mainly been investigated by culture-based methods or amplicon sequencing. However, both methods have limitations, complicating multi-study comparisons and limiting the knowledge gained regarding in-situ microbial lifestyles. A greater understanding of BE microorganisms can be achieved through basic information derived from the complete genome. Here, we investigate the level of diversity and genomic features (genome size, GC content, replication strand skew, and codon usage bias) from complete genomes of bacteria commonly identified in the BE, providing a first step towards understanding these bacterial lifestyles. RESULTS Here, we selected bacterial genera commonly identified in the BE (or "Common BE genomes") and compared them against other prokaryotic genera ("Other genomes"). The "Common BE genomes" were identified in various climates and in indoor, outdoor, underground, or extreme built environments. The diversity level of the 16S rRNA varied greatly between genera. The genome size, GC content and GC skew strength of the "Common BE genomes" were statistically larger than those of the "Other genomes" but were not practically significant. In contrast, the strength of selected codon usage bias (S value) was statistically higher with a large effect size in the "Common BE genomes" compared to the "Other genomes." CONCLUSION Of the four genomic features tested, the S value could play a more important role in understanding the lifestyles of bacteria living in the BE. This parameter could be indicative of bacterial growth rates, gene expression, and other factors, potentially affected by BE growth conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, and nutrients). However, further experimental evidence, species-level BE studies, and classification by BE location is needed to define the relationship between genomic features and the lifestyles of BE bacteria more robustly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy Merino
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan.,Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Stauffer Hall of Science, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Shu Zhang
- Global Research Center for Environment and Energy based on Nanomaterials Science, National Institute for Material Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan.,Section of Infection and Immunity, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-0641, USA
| | - Masaru Tomita
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, 252-0882, Japan.,Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0035, Japan
| | - Haruo Suzuki
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, 252-0882, Japan. .,Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0035, Japan.
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Dunbar J, Pillai S, Wunschel D, Dickens M, Morse SA, Franz D, Bartko A, Challacombe J, Persons T, Hughes MA, Blanke SR, Holland R, Hutchison J, Merkley ED, Campbell K, Branda CS, Sharma S, Lindler L, Anderson K, Hodge D. Perspective on Improving Environmental Monitoring of Biothreats. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2018; 6:147. [PMID: 30406093 PMCID: PMC6207620 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2018.00147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
For more than a decade, the United States has performed environmental monitoring by collecting and analyzing air samples for a handful of biological threat agents (BTAs) in order to detect a possible biological attack. This effort has faced numerous technical challenges including timeliness, sampling efficiency, sensitivity, specificity, and robustness. The cost of city-wide environmental monitoring using conventional technology has also been a challenge. A large group of scientists with expertise in bioterrorism defense met to assess the objectives and current efficacy of environmental monitoring and to identify operational and technological changes that could enhance its efficacy and cost-effectiveness, thus enhancing its value. The highest priority operational change that was identified was to abandon the current concept of city-wide environmental monitoring because the operational costs were too high and its value was compromised by low detection sensitivity and other environmental factors. Instead, it was suggested that the focus should primarily be on indoor monitoring and secondarily on special-event monitoring because objectives are tractable and these operational settings are aligned with likelihood and risk assessments. The highest priority technological change identified was the development of a reagent-less, real-time sensor that can identify a potential airborne release and trigger secondary tests of greater sensitivity and specificity for occasional samples of interest. This technological change could be transformative with the potential to greatly reduce operational costs and thereby create the opportunity to expand the scope and effectiveness of environmental monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Dunbar
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States
| | - Segaran Pillai
- Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC, United States
| | - David Wunschel
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States
| | | | - Stephen A. Morse
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States
- IHRC, Inc., Atlanta, GA, United States
| | | | - Andrew Bartko
- Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH, United States
| | | | - Timothy Persons
- Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Molly A. Hughes
- Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC, United States
| | | | | | - Janine Hutchison
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States
| | - Eric D. Merkley
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States
| | | | | | - Shashi Sharma
- Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Luther Lindler
- Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Kevin Anderson
- Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, United States
| | - David Hodge
- Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC, United States
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Fahimipour AK, Hartmann EM, Siemens A, Kline J, Levin DA, Wilson H, Betancourt-Román CM, Brown GZ, Fretz M, Northcutt D, Siemens KN, Huttenhower C, Green JL, Van Den Wymelenberg K. Daylight exposure modulates bacterial communities associated with household dust. MICROBIOME 2018; 6:175. [PMID: 30333051 PMCID: PMC6193304 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-018-0559-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Microbial communities associated with indoor dust abound in the built environment. The transmission of sunlight through windows is a key building design consideration, but the effects of light exposure on dust communities remain unclear. We report results of an experiment and computational models designed to assess the effects of light exposure and wavelengths on the structure of the dust microbiome. Specifically, we placed household dust in replicate model "rooms" with windows that transmitted visible, ultraviolet, or no light and measured taxonomic compositions, absolute abundances, and viabilities of the resulting bacterial communities. RESULTS Light exposure per se led to lower abundances of viable bacteria and communities that were compositionally distinct from dark rooms, suggesting preferential inactivation of some microbes over others under daylighting conditions. Differences between communities experiencing visible and ultraviolet light wavelengths were relatively minor, manifesting primarily in abundances of dead human-derived taxa. Daylighting was associated with the loss of a few numerically dominant groups of related microorganisms and apparent increases in the abundances of some rare groups, suggesting that a small number of microorganisms may have exhibited modest population growth under lighting conditions. Although biological processes like population growth on dust could have generated these patterns, we also present an alternate statistical explanation using sampling models from ecology; simulations indicate that artefactual, apparent increases in the abundances of very rare taxa may be a null expectation following the selective inactivation of dominant microorganisms in a community. CONCLUSIONS Our experimental and simulation-based results indicate that dust contains living bacterial taxa that can be inactivated following changes in local abiotic conditions and suggest that the bactericidal potential of ordinary window-filtered sunlight may be similar to ultraviolet wavelengths across dosages that are relevant to real buildings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashkaan K. Fahimipour
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
| | - Erica M. Hartmann
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL USA
| | - Andrew Siemens
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
| | - Jeff Kline
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
| | - David A. Levin
- Department of Mathematics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
| | - Hannah Wilson
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
| | | | - GZ Brown
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
| | - Mark Fretz
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
| | - Dale Northcutt
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
| | - Kyla N. Siemens
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
| | - Curtis Huttenhower
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA
| | - Jessica L. Green
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM USA
| | - Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg
- Biology and the Built Environment Center, University of Oregon, 13th Ave, Eugene, OR USA
- Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW As the science of the microbiome advances, social epidemiologists can contribute to understanding how the broader social environment shapes the microbiome over the life course. This review summarizes current research and describes potential mechanisms of the social epidemiology of the microbiome. RECENT FINDINGS Most existing literature linking the social environment and the microbiome comes from animal models, focused on the impact of social interactions and psychosocial stress. Suggestive evidence of the importance of early life exposures, health behaviors, and the built environment also point to the importance of the social environment for the microbiome in humans. SUMMARY Social epidemiology as a field is well poised to contribute expertise in theory and measurement of the broader social environment to this new area, and to consider both the upstream and downstream mechanisms by which this environment gets "under the skin" and "into the gut." As population-level microbiome data becomes increasingly available, we encourage investigation of the multi-level determinants of the microbiome and how the microbiome may link the social environment and health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Beam Dowd
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King’s College London, The Strand, London, WC2R 2LS UK
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, 55 W 125th St, New York, NY 10027 USA
| | - Audrey Renson
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Dr, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA
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Ecophylogenetics Clarifies the Evolutionary Association between Mammals and Their Gut Microbiota. mBio 2018; 9:mBio.01348-18. [PMID: 30206171 PMCID: PMC6134092 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01348-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Our understanding of mammalian evolution has become microbiome-aware. While emerging research links mammalian biodiversity and the gut microbiome, we lack insight into which microbes potentially impact mammalian evolution. Microbes common to diverse mammalian species may be strong candidates, as their absence in the gut may affect how the microbiome functionally contributes to mammalian physiology to adversely affect fitness. Identifying such conserved gut microbes is thus important to ultimately assessing the microbiome’s potential role in mammalian evolution. To advance their discovery, we developed an approach that identifies ancestrally related groups of microbes that distribute across mammals in a way that indicates their collective conservation. These conserved clades are presumed to have evolved a trait in their ancestor that matters to their distribution across mammals and which has been retained among clade members. We found not only that such clades do exist among mammals but also that they appear to be subject to natural selection and characterize human evolution. Our knowledge of how the gut microbiome relates to mammalian evolution benefits from the identification of gut microbial taxa that are unexpectedly prevalent or unexpectedly conserved across mammals. Such taxa enable experimental determination of the traits needed for such microbes to succeed as gut generalists, as well as those traits that impact mammalian fitness. However, the punctuated resolution of microbial taxonomy may limit our ability to detect conserved gut microbes, especially in cases in which broadly related microbial lineages possess shared traits that drive their apparent ubiquity across mammals. To advance the discovery of conserved mammalian gut microbes, we developed a novel ecophylogenetic approach to taxonomy that groups microbes into taxonomic units based on their shared ancestry and their common distribution across mammals. Applying this approach to previously generated gut microbiome data uncovered monophyletic clades of gut bacteria that are conserved across mammals. It also resolved microbial clades exclusive to and conserved among particular mammalian lineages. Conserved clades often manifest phylogenetic patterns, such as cophylogeny with their host, that indicate that they are subject to selective processes, such as host filtering. Moreover, this analysis identified variation in the rate at which mammals acquire or lose conserved microbial clades and resolved a human-accelerated loss of conserved clades. Collectively, the data from this study reveal mammalian gut microbiota that possess traits linked to mammalian phylogeny, point to the existence of a core set of microbes that comprise the mammalian gut microbiome, and clarify potential evolutionary or ecologic mechanisms driving the gut microbiome’s diversification throughout mammalian evolution.
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Trinh P, Zaneveld JR, Safranek S, Rabinowitz PM. One Health Relationships Between Human, Animal, and Environmental Microbiomes: A Mini-Review. Front Public Health 2018; 6:235. [PMID: 30214898 PMCID: PMC6125393 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2018] [Accepted: 08/08/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The One Health concept stresses the ecological relationships between human, animal, and environmental health. Much of the One Health literature to date has examined the transfer of pathogens from animals (e.g., emerging zoonoses) and the environment to humans. The recent rapid development of technology to perform high throughput DNA sequencing has expanded this view to include the study of entire microbial communities. Applying the One Health approach to the microbiome allows for consideration of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic microbial transfer between humans, animals, and the environment. We review recent research studies of such transmission, the molecular and statistical methods being used, and the implications of such microbiome relationships for human health. Our review identified evidence that the environmental microbiome as well as the microbiome of animals in close contact can affect both the human microbiome and human health outcomes. Such microbiome transfer can take place in the household as well as the workplace setting. Urbanization of built environments leads to changes in the environmental microbiome which could be a factor in human health. While affected by environmental exposures, the human microbiome also can modulate the response to environmental factors through effects on metabolic and immune function. Better understanding of these microbiome interactions between humans, animals, and the shared environment will require continued development of improved statistical and ecological modeling approaches. Such enhanced understanding could lead to innovative interventions to prevent and manage a variety of human health and disease states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Trinh
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Jesse R Zaneveld
- Division of Biological Sciences, School of Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics, University of Washington, Bothell, WA, United States
| | - Sarah Safranek
- Health Sciences Library, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Peter M Rabinowitz
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
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41
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Hakansson AP, Orihuela CJ, Bogaert D. Bacterial-Host Interactions: Physiology and Pathophysiology of Respiratory Infection. Physiol Rev 2018; 98:781-811. [PMID: 29488821 PMCID: PMC5966719 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00040.2016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Revised: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 09/11/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
It has long been thought that respiratory infections are the direct result of acquisition of pathogenic viruses or bacteria, followed by their overgrowth, dissemination, and in some instances tissue invasion. In the last decades, it has become apparent that in contrast to this classical view, the majority of microorganisms associated with respiratory infections and inflammation are actually common members of the respiratory ecosystem and only in rare circumstances do they cause disease. This suggests that a complex interplay between host, environment, and properties of colonizing microorganisms together determines disease development and its severity. To understand the pathophysiological processes that underlie respiratory infectious diseases, it is therefore necessary to understand the host-bacterial interactions occurring at mucosal surfaces, along with the microbes inhabiting them, during symbiosis. Current knowledge regarding host-bacterial interactions during asymptomatic colonization will be discussed, including a plausible role for the human microbiome in maintaining a healthy state. With this as a starting point, we will discuss possible disruptive factors contributing to dysbiosis, which is likely to be a key trigger for pathobionts in the development and pathophysiology of respiratory diseases. Finally, from this renewed perspective, we will reflect on current and potential new approaches for treatment in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- A P Hakansson
- Division of Experimental Infection Medicine, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University , Lund , Sweden ; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, Alabama ; and Center for Inflammation Research, Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh , United Kingdom
| | - C J Orihuela
- Division of Experimental Infection Medicine, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University , Lund , Sweden ; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, Alabama ; and Center for Inflammation Research, Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh , United Kingdom
| | - D Bogaert
- Division of Experimental Infection Medicine, Department of Translational Medicine, Lund University , Lund , Sweden ; Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, Alabama ; and Center for Inflammation Research, Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh , United Kingdom
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Market Integration Predicts Human Gut Microbiome Attributes across a Gradient of Economic Development. mSystems 2018; 3:mSystems00122-17. [PMID: 29507896 PMCID: PMC5829308 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00122-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Accepted: 02/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research has reported differences in the gut microbiome between populations residing in wealthy versus poorer countries, leading to the assertion that lifestyle changes associated with economic development promote changes in the gut microbiome that promote the proliferation of microbiome-associated diseases. However, a direct relationship between economic development and the gut microbiome has not previously been shown. We surveyed the gut microbiomes of a single indigenous population undergoing economic development and found significant associations between features of the gut microbiome and lifestyle changes associated with economic development. These findings suggest that even the earliest stages of economic development can drive changes in the gut microbiome, which may provide a warning sign for the development of microbiome-associated diseases. Economic development is marked by dramatic increases in the incidence of microbiome-associated diseases, such as autoimmune diseases and metabolic syndromes, but the lifestyle changes that drive alterations in the human microbiome are not known. We measured market integration as a proxy for economically related lifestyle attributes, such as ownership of specific market goods that index degree of market integration and components of traditional and nontraditional (more modern) house structure and infrastructure, and profiled the fecal microbiomes of 213 participants from a contiguous, indigenous Ecuadorian population. Despite relatively modest differences in lifestyle across the population, greater economic development correlated with significantly lower within-host diversity, higher between-host dissimilarity, and a decrease in the relative abundance of the bacterium Prevotella. These microbiome shifts were most strongly associated with more modern housing, followed by reduced ownership of traditional subsistence lifestyle-associated items. IMPORTANCE Previous research has reported differences in the gut microbiome between populations residing in wealthy versus poorer countries, leading to the assertion that lifestyle changes associated with economic development promote changes in the gut microbiome that promote the proliferation of microbiome-associated diseases. However, a direct relationship between economic development and the gut microbiome has not previously been shown. We surveyed the gut microbiomes of a single indigenous population undergoing economic development and found significant associations between features of the gut microbiome and lifestyle changes associated with economic development. These findings suggest that even the earliest stages of economic development can drive changes in the gut microbiome, which may provide a warning sign for the development of microbiome-associated diseases.
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Leung MHY, Tong X, Wilkins D, Cheung HHL, Lee PKH. Individual and household attributes influence the dynamics of the personal skin microbiota and its association network. MICROBIOME 2018; 6:26. [PMID: 29394957 PMCID: PMC5797343 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-018-0412-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous studies have thus far characterized the temporal dynamics of the skin microbiota of healthy individuals. However, there is no information regarding the dynamics of different microbial association network properties. Also, there is little understanding of how living conditions, specifically cohabitation and household occupancy, may be associated with the nature and extent (or degree) of cutaneous microbiota change within individuals over time. In this study, the dynamics of the skin microbiota, and its association networks, on the skin of urban residents over four seasons were characterized. RESULTS Similar to western cohorts, the individuals of this cohort show different extents of variations in relative abundance of common skin colonizers, concomitant with individual- and household-associated changes in differential abundances of bacterial taxa. Interestingly, the individualized nature of the skin microbiota extends to various aspects of microbial association networks, including co-occurring and excluding taxa, as well as overall network structural properties. Household occupancy is correlated with the extent of variations in relative abundance of Propionibacterium, Acinetobacter, and Bacillus over multiple skin sites. In addition, household occupancy is also associated with the extent of temporal changes in microbial diversity and composition within a resident's skin. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study investigating the potential roles household occupancy has on the extent of change in one's cutaneous microbiota and its association network structures. In particular, we show that relationships between the skin microbiota of a resident, his/her cohabitants, and those of non-cohabitants over time are highly personal and are possibly governed by living conditions and nature of interactions between cohabitants within households over 1 year. This study calls for increased awareness to personal and lifestyle factors that may govern relationships between the skin microbiota of one individual and those of cohabitants, and changes in the microbial association network structures within a person over time. The current study will act as a baseline for future assessments in comparing against temporal dynamics of microbiota from individuals with different skin conditions and for identifying residential factors that are beneficial in promoting the dynamics of the skin microbiota associated with health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus H. Y. Leung
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Xinzhao Tong
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - David Wilkins
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Hedwig H. L. Cheung
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Patrick K. H. Lee
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
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Schwendner P, Mahnert A, Koskinen K, Moissl-Eichinger C, Barczyk S, Wirth R, Berg G, Rettberg P. Preparing for the crewed Mars journey: microbiota dynamics in the confined Mars500 habitat during simulated Mars flight and landing. MICROBIOME 2017; 5:129. [PMID: 28974259 PMCID: PMC5627443 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-017-0345-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Mars500 project was conceived as the first full duration simulation of a crewed return flight to Mars. For 520 days, six crew members lived confined in a specifically designed spacecraft mock-up. The herein described "MIcrobial ecology of Confined Habitats and humAn health" (MICHA) experiment was implemented to acquire comprehensive microbiota data from this unique, confined manned habitat, to retrieve important information on the occurring microbiota dynamics, the microbial load and diversity in the air and on various surfaces. In total, 360 samples from 20 (9 air, 11 surface) locations were taken at 18 time-points and processed by extensive cultivation, PhyloChip and next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. RESULTS Cultivation assays revealed a Staphylococcus and Bacillus-dominated microbial community on various surfaces, with an average microbial load that did not exceed the allowed limits for ISS in-flight requirements indicating adequate maintenance of the facility. Areas with high human activity were identified as hotspots for microbial accumulation. Despite substantial fluctuation with respect to microbial diversity and abundance throughout the experiment, the location within the facility and the confinement duration were identified as factors significantly shaping the microbial diversity and composition, with the crew representing the main source for microbial dispersal. Opportunistic pathogens, stress-tolerant or potentially mobile element-bearing microorganisms were predicted to be prevalent throughout the confinement, while the overall microbial diversity dropped significantly over time. CONCLUSIONS Our findings clearly indicate that under confined conditions, the community structure remains a highly dynamic system which adapts to the prevailing habitat and micro-conditions. Since a sterile environment is not achievable, these dynamics need to be monitored to avoid spreading of highly resistant or potentially pathogenic microorganisms and a potentially harmful decrease of microbial diversity. If necessary, countermeasures are required, to maintain a healthy, diverse balance of beneficial, neutral and opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms. Our results serve as an important data collection for (i) future risk estimations of crewed space flight, (ii) an optimized design and planning of a spacecraft mission and (iii) for the selection of appropriate microbial monitoring approaches and potential countermeasures, to ensure a microbiologically safe space-flight environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Schwendner
- Radiation Biology Department, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center e.V. (DLR), Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne, Germany
- Institute for Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitaetsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
- Present address: UK Center for Astrobiology, University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD UK
| | - Alexander Mahnert
- Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 12/I, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Kaisa Koskinen
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036 Graz, Austria
- BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12/II, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Christine Moissl-Eichinger
- Medical University of Graz, Department of Internal Medicine, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036 Graz, Austria
- BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12/II, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Simon Barczyk
- Radiation Biology Department, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center e.V. (DLR), Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne, Germany
| | - Reinhard Wirth
- Institute for Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitaetsstrasse 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Gabriele Berg
- Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 12/I, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Petra Rettberg
- Radiation Biology Department, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center e.V. (DLR), Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne, Germany
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Mosites E, Sammons M, Otiang E, Eng A, Noecker C, Manor O, Hilton S, Thumbi SM, Onyango C, Garland-Lewis G, Call DR, Njenga MK, Wasserheit JN, Zambriski JA, Walson JL, Palmer GH, Montgomery J, Borenstein E, Omore R, Rabinowitz PM. Microbiome sharing between children, livestock and household surfaces in western Kenya. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0171017. [PMID: 28152044 PMCID: PMC5289499 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0171017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 01/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The gut microbiome community structure and development are associated with several health outcomes in young children. To determine the household influences of gut microbiome structure, we assessed microbial sharing within households in western Kenya by sequencing 16S rRNA libraries of fecal samples from children and cattle, cloacal swabs from chickens, and swabs of household surfaces. Among the 156 households studied, children within the same household significantly shared their gut microbiome with each other, although we did not find significant sharing of gut microbiome across host species or household surfaces. Higher gut microbiome diversity among children was associated with lower wealth status and involvement in livestock feeding chores. Although more research is necessary to identify further drivers of microbiota development, these results suggest that the household should be considered as a unit. Livestock activities, health and microbiome perturbations among an individual child may have implications for other children in the household.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Mosites
- University of Washington, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Washington State University, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Matt Sammons
- Washington State University, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Elkanah Otiang
- Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya
| | - Alexander Eng
- University of Washington, Department of Genome Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Cecilia Noecker
- University of Washington, Department of Genome Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Ohad Manor
- University of Washington, Department of Genome Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Sarah Hilton
- University of Washington, Department of Genome Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Samuel M. Thumbi
- Washington State University, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Clayton Onyango
- Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya
| | - Gemina Garland-Lewis
- University of Washington, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Douglas R. Call
- Washington State University, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - M. Kariuki Njenga
- Washington State University, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Judith N. Wasserheit
- University of Washington, Department of Global Health, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Epidemiology, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Jennifer A. Zambriski
- Washington State University, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Judd L. Walson
- University of Washington, Department of Global Health, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Epidemiology, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Pediatrics, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Guy H. Palmer
- Washington State University, Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Joel Montgomery
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Elhanan Borenstein
- University of Washington, Department of Genome Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Richard Omore
- Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya
| | - Peter M. Rabinowitz
- University of Washington, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Global Health, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- University of Washington, Department of Family Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States America
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Haux R, Kulikowski CA, Bakken S, de Lusignan S, Kimura M, Koch S, Mantas J, Maojo V, Marschollek M, Martin-Sanchez F, Moen A, Park HA, Sarkar IN, Leong TY, McCray AT. Research Strategies for Biomedical and Health Informatics. Some Thought-provoking and Critical Proposals to Encourage Scientific Debate on the Nature of Good Research in Medical Informatics. Methods Inf Med 2017; 56:e1-e10. [PMID: 28119991 PMCID: PMC5388922 DOI: 10.3414/me16-01-0125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Medical informatics, or biomedical and health informatics (BMHI), has become an established scientific discipline. In all such disciplines there is a certain inertia to persist in focusing on well-established research areas and to hold on to well-known research methodologies rather than adopting new ones, which may be more appropriate. OBJECTIVES To search for answers to the following questions: What are research fields in informatics, which are not being currently adequately addressed, and which methodological approaches might be insufficiently used? Do we know about reasons? What could be consequences of change for research and for education? METHODS Outstanding informatics scientists were invited to three panel sessions on this topic in leading international conferences (MIE 2015, Medinfo 2015, HEC 2016) in order to get their answers to these questions. RESULTS A variety of themes emerged in the set of answers provided by the panellists. Some panellists took the theoretical foundations of the field for granted, while several questioned whether the field was actually grounded in a strong theoretical foundation. Panellists proposed a range of suggestions for new or improved approaches, methodologies, and techniques to enhance the BMHI research agenda. CONCLUSIONS The field of BMHI is on the one hand maturing as an academic community and intellectual endeavour. On the other hand vendor-supplied solutions may be too readily and uncritically accepted in health care practice. There is a high chance that BMHI will continue to flourish as an important discipline; its innovative interventions might then reach the original objectives of advancing science and improving health care outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reinhold Haux
- Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics, University of Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School, Germany
| | - Casimir A. Kulikowski
- Department of Computer Science, Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, NJ, USA
| | - Suzanne Bakken
- School of Nursing and Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Simon de Lusignan
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Michio Kimura
- Medical Informatics Department, School of Medicine, Hamamatsu University, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Sabine Koch
- Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Health Informatics Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - John Mantas
- Health Informatics Laboratory, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Victor Maojo
- Biomedical Informatics Group, Artificial Intelligence Department, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Michael Marschollek
- Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics, University of Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School, Germany
| | - Fernando Martin-Sanchez
- Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Division of Health Informatics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anne Moen
- Institute for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Institute for Health Sciences, University College of South East Norway, Drammen, Norway
| | - Hyeoun-Ae Park
- College of Nursing and Systems Biomedical Informatics Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Indra Neil Sarkar
- Center for Biomedical Informatics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Tze Yun Leong
- Medical Computing Laboratory, School of Computing, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore
| | - Alexa T. McCray
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Wilkins D, Leung MHY, Lee PKH. Microbiota fingerprints lose individually identifying features over time. MICROBIOME 2017; 5:1. [PMID: 28086968 PMCID: PMC5234115 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-016-0209-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Humans host individually unique skin microbiota, suggesting that microbiota traces transferred from skin to surfaces could serve as forensic markers analogous to fingerprints. While it is known that individuals leave identifiable microbiota traces on surfaces, it is not clear for how long these traces persist. Moreover, as skin and surface microbiota change with time, even persistent traces may lose their forensic potential as they would cease to resemble the microbiota of the person who left them. We followed skin and surface microbiota within households for four seasons to determine whether accurate microbiota-based matching of individuals to their households could be achieved across long time delays. RESULTS While household surface microbiota traces could be matched to the correct occupant or occupants with 67% accuracy, accuracy decreased substantially when skin and surface samples were collected in different seasons, and particularly when surface samples were collected long after skin samples. Most OTUs persisted on skin or surfaces for less than one season, indicating that OTU loss was the major cause of decreased matching accuracy. OTUs that were more useful for individual identification persisted for less time and were less likely to be deposited from skin to surface, suggesting a trade-off between the longevity and identifying value of microbiota traces. CONCLUSIONS While microbiota traces have potential forensic value, unlike fingerprints they are not static and may degrade in a way that preferentially erases features useful in identifying individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Wilkins
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Marcus H. Y. Leung
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Patrick K. H. Lee
- School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, B5423-AC1, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China
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Stiemsma LT, Turvey SE. Asthma and the microbiome: defining the critical window in early life. ALLERGY, ASTHMA, AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY 2017; 13:3. [PMID: 28077947 PMCID: PMC5217603 DOI: 10.1186/s13223-016-0173-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 12/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory immune disorder of the airways affecting one in ten children in westernized countries. The geographical disparity combined with a generational rise in prevalence, emphasizes that changing environmental exposures play a significant role in the etiology of this disease. The microflora hypothesis suggests that early life exposures are disrupting the composition of the microbiota and consequently, promoting immune dysregulation in the form of hypersensitivity disorders. Animal model research supports a role of the microbiota in asthma and atopic disease development. Further, these model systems have identified an early life critical window, during which gut microbial dysbiosis is most influential in promoting hypersensitivity disorders. Until recently this critical window had not been characterized in humans, but now studies suggest that the ideal time to use microbes as preventative treatments or diagnostics for asthma in humans is within the first 100 days of life. This review outlines the major mouse-model and human studies leading to characterization of the early life critical window, emphasizing studies analyzing the intestinal and airway microbiotas in asthma and atopic disease. This research has promising future implications regarding childhood immune health, as ultimately it may be possible to therapeutically administer specific microbes in early life to prevent the development of asthma in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah T. Stiemsma
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
- BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Stuart E. Turvey
- BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Pediatrics, BC Children’s Hospital, 950 West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4 Canada
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Mora M, Mahnert A, Koskinen K, Pausan MR, Oberauner-Wappis L, Krause R, Perras AK, Gorkiewicz G, Berg G, Moissl-Eichinger C. Microorganisms in Confined Habitats: Microbial Monitoring and Control of Intensive Care Units, Operating Rooms, Cleanrooms and the International Space Station. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:1573. [PMID: 27790191 PMCID: PMC5061736 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Accepted: 09/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Indoor environments, where people spend most of their time, are characterized by a specific microbial community, the indoor microbiome. Most indoor environments are connected to the natural environment by high ventilation, but some habitats are more confined: intensive care units, operating rooms, cleanrooms and the international space station (ISS) are extraordinary living and working areas for humans, with a limited exchange with the environment. The purposes for confinement are different: a patient has to be protected from infections (intensive care unit, operating room), product quality has to be assured (cleanrooms), or confinement is necessary due to extreme, health-threatening outer conditions, as on the ISS. The ISS represents the most secluded man-made habitat, constantly inhabited by humans since November 2000 – and, inevitably, also by microorganisms. All of these man-made confined habitats need to be microbiologically monitored and controlled, by e.g., microbial cleaning and disinfection. However, these measures apply constant selective pressures, which support microbes with resistance capacities against antibiotics or chemical and physical stresses and thus facilitate the rise of survival specialists and multi-resistant strains. In this article, we summarize the available data on the microbiome of aforementioned confined habitats. By comparing the different operating, maintenance and monitoring procedures as well as microbial communities therein, we emphasize the importance to properly understand the effects of confinement on the microbial diversity, the possible risks represented by some of these microorganisms and by the evolution of (antibiotic) resistances in such environments – and the need to reassess the current hygiene standards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Mora
- Department for Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz Austria
| | - Alexander Mahnert
- Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz Austria
| | - Kaisa Koskinen
- Department for Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, GrazAustria; BioTechMed-Graz, GrazAustria
| | - Manuela R Pausan
- Department for Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz Austria
| | | | - Robert Krause
- Department for Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz Austria
| | - Alexandra K Perras
- Department for Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, GrazAustria; Department for Microbiology, University of Regensburg, RegensburgGermany
| | - Gregor Gorkiewicz
- BioTechMed-Graz, GrazAustria; Department of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, GrazAustria
| | - Gabriele Berg
- Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz Austria
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Bik EM. The Hoops, Hopes, and Hypes of Human Microbiome Research. THE YALE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2016; 89:363-373. [PMID: 27698620 PMCID: PMC5045145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Recent developments in sequencing methods and bioinformatics analysis tools have greatly enabled the culture-independent analysis of complex microbial communities associated with environmental samples, plants, and animals. This has led to a spectacular increase in the number of studies on both membership and functionalities of these hitherto invisible worlds, in particular those of the human microbiome. The wide variety in available microbiome tools and platforms can be overwhelming, and making sound conclusions from scientific research can be challenging. Here, I will review 1) the methodological and analytic hoops a good microbiome study has to jump through, including DNA extraction and choice of bioinformatics tools, 2) the hopes this field has generated for diseases such as autism and inflammatory bowel diseases, and 3) some of the hypes that it has created, e.g., by confusing correlation and causation, and the recent pseudoscientific commercialization of microbiome research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth M Bik
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases & Geographic Medicine, Stanford University
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