scholarly journals Gut Microbiome Composition and Metabolomic Profiles of Wild and Captive Chinese Monals (Lophophorus Lhuysii)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Jiang ◽  
Xin He ◽  
Marc Valitutto ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Qin Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background:The Chinese monal (Lophophorus lhuysii) is an endangered bird species, with a wild population restricted to the mountains of southwest China, and only one known captive population in the world. We investigated the fecal microbiota and metabolomics of wild and captive Chinese monals to explore differences and similarities in nutritional status and digestive characteristics. An integrated approach combining 16S ribosomal rRNA (16S rRNA) gene sequencing and ultra-high performance liquid chromatograph (UHPLC) based metabolomics were used to examine the fecal microbiome composition and the metabolomic profile of Chinese monals. Results: The results showed that the alpha diversity of gut microbes in the wild group were significantly higher than that in the captive group and the core bacterial species in the two groups showed remarkable differences at all levels. Metabolomic profiling revealed a concurrent difference, mainly related to galactose, starch and sucrose metabolism, fatty acid, bile acid biosynthesis and bile secretion. Furthermore, these metabolites in difference are have a strong correlation with the main microbe in genus level.Conclusions: Various factors related to diet and environmental conditions played a crucial role in shaping the gut microbiome composition and metabolomic profile. Through this study, we have established a baseline for a normal gut microbiome and metabolomic profile for wild Chinese monals, thus allowing us to evaluate if differences seen in captive specimens has an impact on their overall health and reproduction.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Jiang ◽  
Xin He ◽  
Marc Valitutto ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Qin Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background:The Chinese monal (Lophophorus lhuysii) is an endangered bird species, with a wild population restricted to the mountains of southwest China, and only one known captive population in the world. We investigated the fecal microbiota and metabolome of wild and captive Chinese monals to explore differences and similarities in nutritional status and digestive characteristics. An integrated approach combining 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene sequencing and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) based metabolomics were used to examine the fecal microbiota composition and the metabolomic profile of Chinese monals. Results: The results showed that the alpha diversity of gut microbes in the wild group were significantly higher than that in the captive group and the core bacterial taxa in the two groups showed remarkable differences at phylum, class, order, and family levels. Metabolomic profiling also revealed differences, mainly related to galactose, starch and sucrose metabolism, fatty acid, bile acid biosynthesis and bile secretion. Furthermore, strong correlations of metabolite types and bacterial genus were detected. Conclusions: There were remarkable differences in the gut microbiota composition and metabolomic profile between wild and captive Chinese monals. This study has established a baseline for a normal gut microbiota and metabolomic profile for wild Chinese monals, thus allowing us to evaluate if differences seen in captive organisms have an impact on their overall health and reproduction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Jiang ◽  
Xin He ◽  
Marc Valitutto ◽  
Li Chen ◽  
Qin Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Chinese monal (Lophophorus lhuysii) is an endangered bird species, with a wild population restricted to the mountains in southwest China, and only one known captive population in the world. We investigated the fecal microbiota and metabolome of wild and captive Chinese monals to explore differences and similarities in nutritional status and digestive characteristics. An integrated approach combining 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene sequencing and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) based metabolomics were used to examine the fecal microbiota composition and the metabolomic profile of Chinese monals. Results The results showed that the alpha diversity of gut microbes in the wild group were significantly higher than that in the captive group and the core bacterial taxa in the two groups showed remarkable differences at phylum, class, order, and family levels. Metabolomic profiling also revealed differences, mainly related to galactose, starch and sucrose metabolism, fatty acid, bile acid biosynthesis and bile secretion. Furthermore, strong correlations between metabolite types and bacterial genus were detected. Conclusions There were remarkable differences in the gut microbiota composition and metabolomic profile between wild and captive Chinese monals. This study has established a baseline for a normal gut microbiota and metabolomic profile for wild Chinese monals, thus allowing us to evaluate if differences seen in captive organisms have an impact on their overall health and reproduction.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur Trzebny ◽  
Anna Slodkowicz-Kowalska ◽  
Johanna Björkroth ◽  
Miroslawa Dabert

AbstractThe animal gut microbiota consist of many different microorganisms, mainly bacteria, but archaea, fungi, protozoans, and viruses may also be present. This complex and dynamic community of microorganisms may change during parasitic infection. In the present study, we investigated the effect of the presence of microsporidians on the composition of the mosquito gut microbiota and linked some microbiome taxa and functionalities to infections caused by these parasites. We characterised bacterial communities of 188 mosquito females, of which 108 were positive for microsporidian DNA. To assess how bacterial communities change during microsporidian infection, microbiome structures were identified using 16S rRNA microbial profiling. In total, we identified 46 families and four higher taxa, of which Comamonadaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Flavobacteriaceae and Pseudomonadaceae were the most abundant mosquito-associated bacterial families. Our data suggest that the mosquito gut microbial composition varies among host species. In addition, we found a correlation between the microbiome composition and the presence of microsporidians. The prediction of metagenome functional content from the 16S rRNA gene sequencing suggests that microsporidian infection is characterised by some bacterial species capable of specific metabolic functions, especially the biosynthesis of ansamycins and vancomycin antibiotics and the pentose phosphate pathway. Moreover, we detected a positive correlation between the presence of microsporidian DNA and bacteria belonging to Spiroplasmataceae and Leuconostocaceae, each represented by a single species, Spiroplasma sp. PL03 and Weissella cf. viridescens, respectively. Additionally, W. cf. viridescens was observed only in microsporidian-infected mosquitoes. More extensive research, including intensive and varied host sampling, as well as determination of metabolic activities based on quantitative methods, should be carried out to confirm our results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 393-393
Author(s):  
Moamen Elmassry ◽  
Eunhee Chung ◽  
Abdul Hamood ◽  
Chwan-Li Shen

Abstract Objectives In recent years, characterization of gut microbiota composition and function were linked to the progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Recent evidence showed that Geranylgeraniol, an isoprenoid found in fruits, vegetables, and grains, improves glucose homeostasis. Similarly, Tocotrienols, a subfamily of vitamin E, also contains anti-diabetic properties. In this study, we examined the combined effect of geranylgeraniol and tocotrienols on the composition and function of gut microbiome in obese male mice. Methods Forty male C57BL/6J mice were assigned to 4 groups in a factorial design as follows: high-fat diet (HFD) (control group), HFD + geranylgeraniol [400 mg/kg diet] (GG group), HFD + tocotrienols [400 mg/kg diet] (TT group), and HFD + geranylgeraniol + tocotrienols (G + T group) for 14 weeks. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was done from cecal samples and microbiome and data analysis was performed with QIIME2 and PICRUSt2. Results Across all groups, the most abundant phyla were Verrucomicrobia, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria. There was no difference in alpha diversity among different groups. Different treatments influenced the relative abundance of certain bacteria. In the Bacteroidetes phylum, the relative abundance of family S24–7 increased in the TT group only. In the Firmicutes phylum, the relative abundance of family Lachnospiraceae was reduced upon the supplementation of geranylgeraniol or tocotrienols; individually or in combination. In Verrucomicrobia phylum, Akkermansia muciniphila relative abundance was reduced in the TT group but increased in the G + T group. The results of functional profiling of the gut microbiome revealed that geranylgeraniol supplementation caused an increase in the proportion of biosynthetic pathways related to purine, pyrimidine, and inosine-5’-phosphate and hexitol fermentation, and a decrease in the proportion of pathways involved in the biosynthesis of isoleucine, valine, histidine, arginine, and chorismate. The G + T group increased pathways related to thiamine diphosphate biosynthesis, and decreased others involved into sulfur oxidation and methylerythritol phosphate. Conclusions The influence of geranylgeraniol and tocotrienols supplementation on gut microbiome composition and function, suggests a prebiotic potential for the potential of geranylgeraniol and tocotrienols. Funding Sources American River Nutrition, LLC, Hadley, MA.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuefeng Gao ◽  
Binbin Wu ◽  
Yonglong Pan ◽  
Shaoming Zhou ◽  
Ming Zhang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTPurposeThis study aimed to characterize the gut microbiota in obese Shenzhen adolescents, and evaluate the influence of gender on BMI-related differences in the gut microbiome.MethodsPhysical examinations, blood pressure measurement, serological assay, and body composition evaluation were conducted on two-hundred and five adolescents from Shenzhen. Fecal microbiome composition was profiled via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. A Random Forest (RF) classifier model was built to distinguish the BMI categories based on the gut bacterial composition.ResultsFifty-six taxa consisting mainly of Firmicutes were identified that having significant associations with BMI; two OTUs belonging to Ruminococcaceae and one belonging to Lachnospiraceae had relatively strong positive correlations with body fate rate, waistline, and most of serum biochemical parameters. Based on the 56 BMI-associated OTUs, the RF model showed a robust classification accuracy (AUC 0.96) for predicting the obese phenotype. Gender-specific differences in the gut microbiome composition was obtained, and a lower relative abundance of Odoribacter was particularly found in obese boys. Functional analysis revealed a deficiency in bacterial gene contents related to PPAR signaling pathway in obese subjects for both genders; significantly lower levels of adipocytokine signaling pathway and ethylbenzene degradation were particularly detected in obese girls.ConclusionsThis study revealed unique features of gut microbiome in terms of microbial composition and metabolic functions in obese Shenzhen adolescents. The effect of geographical location, age and gender on the gut microbiome should be carefully considered in case–control studies.


Author(s):  
Chin-Hee Song ◽  
Nayoung Kim ◽  
Ryoung Hee Nam ◽  
Soo In Choi ◽  
Jeong Eun Yu ◽  
...  

The frequency of azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium (AOM/DSS)-induced carcinogenesis in male mice is higher than that in female mice. Previous studies have reported that 17β-estradiol inhibits tumorigenesis in males by modulating nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). This study aimed to investigate the changes in mouse gut microbiome composition based on sex, AOM/DSS-induced colorectal cancer (CRC), and Nrf2 genotype. The gut microbiome composition was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing fecal samples obtained at week 16 post-AOM administration. In terms of sex differences, our results showed that the wild-type (WT) male control mice had higher alpha diversity (i.e. Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson) than the WT female control mice. The linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) results revealed that the abundances of Akkermansia muciniphila and Lactobacillus murinus were higher in WT male control mice than in WT female controls. In terms of colon tumorigenesis, the alpha diversity of the male CRC group was lower than that of the male controls in both WT and Nrf2 KO, but did not show such changes in females. Furthermore, the abundance of A. muciniphila was higher in male CRC groups than in male controls in both WT and Nrf2 KO. The abundance of Bacteroides vulgatus was higher in WT CRC groups than in WT controls in both males and females. However, the abundance of L. murinus was lower in WT female CRC and Nrf2 KO male CRC groups than in its controls. The abundance of A. muciniphila was not altered by Nrf2 KO. In contrast, the abundances of L. murinus and B. vulgatus were changed differently by Nrf2 KO depending on sex and CRC. Interestingly, L. murinus showed negative correlation with tumor numbers in the whole colon. In addition, B. vulgatus showed positive correlation with inflammatory markers (i.e. myeloperoxidase and IL-1β levels), tumor numbers, and high-grade adenoma, especially, developed mucosal and submucosal invasive adenocarcinoma at the distal part of the colon. In conclusion, Nrf2 differentially alters the gut microbiota composition depending on sex and CRC induction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 4068
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc C. Mougeot ◽  
Micaela F. Beckman ◽  
Holden C. Langdon ◽  
Michael T. Brennan ◽  
Farah Bahrani Mougeot

The endogenous microbiome of healthy individuals in oral cavities is diverse, representing over 700 bacterial species. Imbalance in oral and gut microbiome composition and associated gene expression has been linked to different forms of hematological (blood) cancers. Our objective is to compare oral microbiome profiles of patients with blood cancers (BC group: N = 39 patients, n = 124 oral samples) to those of healthy control subjects (HC group: N = 27 subjects, n = 100 oral samples). Saliva samples and swabs of buccal mucosa, supragingival plaque, and tongue were collected from blood cancer patients and healthy controls. Next-generation sequencing (16S-rRNA gene V3–V4 region) was used to determine the relative abundance of bacterial taxa present at the genus and species levels. Differences in oral microbiome beta-diversity were determined using multivariate permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA). Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis was performed to identify differentiating bacterial taxa in pairwise comparisons. The PATRICv3.6.7 online tool was used to determine the predominance of potential pathogenicity in the BC group. The oral microbiome beta-diversities of the BC and HC groups differed and corresponded to a reduced alpha-diversity in the BC group. LEfSe analysis showed significant LDA scores for Actinomyces and Rothia spp., differentiating the BC group from the HC group. In silico analysis using PATRICv3.6.7 demonstrated that the groups of bacteria possessing traits of “antibiotic resistance”, “oral pathogen”, and “virulence” was enriched in the BC group. Although 56% of the BC patients received antibiotics within two weeks of the oral bacterial sampling, Actinomyces genus remained the top differentiating feature in the BC group regardless of the administration of antibiotics, while Rothia dentocariosa was detected as the top differentiating feature in the BC patients who did not receive antibiotics, but not in those who received antibiotics. Further investigation is needed to better understand the interactions of certain oral species with the host immune system to better characterize clinically relevant associations with hematological cancers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1395
Author(s):  
Bokyoung Lee ◽  
Jieun Lee ◽  
Min-Yeong Woo ◽  
Mi Jin Lee ◽  
Ho-Joon Shin ◽  
...  

T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein-3 (Tim-3) is an immune checkpoint molecule and a target for anti-cancer therapy. In this study, we examined whether gut microbiota manipulation altered the anti-tumour efficacy of Tim-3 blockade. The gut microbiota of mice was manipulated through the administration of antibiotics and oral gavage of bacteria. Alterations in the gut microbiome were analysed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Gut dysbiosis triggered by antibiotics attenuated the anti-tumour efficacy of Tim-3 blockade in both C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice. Anti-tumour efficacy was restored following oral gavage of faecal bacteria even as antibiotic administration continued. In the case of oral gavage of Enterococcus hirae or Lactobacillus johnsonii, transferred bacterial species and host mouse strain were critical determinants of the anti-tumour efficacy of Tim-3 blockade. Bacterial gavage did not increase the alpha diversity of gut microbiota in antibiotic-treated mice but did alter the microbiome composition, which was associated with the restoration of the anti-tumour efficacy of Tim-3 blockade. Conclusively, our results indicate that gut microbiota modulation may improve the therapeutic efficacy of Tim-3 blockade during concomitant antibiotic treatment. The administered bacterial species and host factors should be considered in order to achieve therapeutically beneficial modulation of the microbiota.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olfat Khannous-Lleiffe ◽  
Jesse R. Willis ◽  
Ester Saus ◽  
Ignacio Cabrera-Aguilera ◽  
Isaac Almendros ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHeart failure (HF) is a common condition associated with a high rate of hospitalizations and adverse outcomes. HF is characterized by impairments of the cardiac ventricular filling and/or ejection of blood capacity. Sleep fragmentation (SF) involves a series of short sleep interruptions that lead to fatigue and contribute to cognitive impairments and dementia. Both conditions are known to be associated with increased inflammation and dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. In the present study, male mice were distributed into four groups, and subjected for four weeks to either HF, SF, both HF and SF, or left unperturbed as controls. We used 16S metabarcoding to assess fecal microbiome composition before and after the experiments. Evidence for distinct alterations in several bacterial groups and an overall decrease in alpha diversity emerged in HF and SF treatment groups. Combined HF and SF conditions, however, showed no synergism, and observed changes were not always additive, suggesting that some of the individual effects of either HF or SF cancel each other out when applied concomitantly.IMPORTANCEThe study demonstrates the potential of the gut microbiome as a source of molecular markers for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of both heart failure and sleep fragmentation conditions in isolation. Our results provide the first evidence of an antagonistic effect of the presence of both conditions in the gut microbiome dysbiosis, showing an attenuation of the alterations that are observed when considering them separately.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William Baiye Abange ◽  
Casey Martin ◽  
Aubin Joseph Nanfack ◽  
Laeticia Grace Yatchou ◽  
Nichole Nusbacher ◽  
...  

AbstractMultiple factors, such as immune disruption, prophylactic co-trimoxazole, and antiretroviral therapy, may influence the structure and function of the gut microbiome of children infected with HIV from birth. In order to understand whether HIV infection altered gut microbiome and to relate changes in microbiome structure and function to immune status, virological response and pediatric ART regimens, we characterized the gut microbiome of 87 HIV-infected and 82 non-exposed HIV-negative children from Yaounde, a cosmopolitan city in Cameroon. We found that children living with HIV had significantly lower alpha diversity in their gut microbiome and altered beta diversity that may not be related to CD4+ T cell count or viral load. There was an increased level of Akkermansia and Faecalibacterium genera and decreased level of Escherichia and other Gamma proteobacteria in children infected with HIV, among other differences. We noted an effect of ethnicity/geography on observed gut microbiome composition and that children on ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor (PI/r)-based ART had gut microbiome composition that diverged more from HIV-negative controls compared to those on non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors-based ART. Further studies investigating the role of this altered gut microbiome in increased disease susceptibility are warranted for individuals who acquired HIV via mother-to-child transmission.


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