High-throughput sequencing identifies distinct fecal and mucosal gut microbiota correlating with different mucosal proteins
The intestinal microbiota is associated with human health. The luminal microbiota (LM) and mucosa-associated microbiota (MAM) are distinct ecosystems with different metabolic and immunological functions. Several studies have examined the correlations between the gut microbiota and clinical indices, but few have investigated the relationships between the microbiota and mucosal proteins. We characterized the intestinal LM and MAM in Chinese people and examined the association between these communities and the expression of mucosal proteins. Fresh fecal samples and distal colonic mucosal biopsies were collected from 32 subjects before (fecal) and during (mucosal) flexible sigmoidoscopy. We used high-throughput sequencing targeting the 16SrRNA gene V3–V4 region to analyze the samples and reverse transcription(RT)–PCR to detect the expression of colonic proteins BDNF, ZO1, TLR2, TLR4, AQP3, and AQP8. Differences in the stool and mucosal microbiota were identified and a correlation network analysis performed. The LM and MAM populations differed significantly. In LM, the microbiota composition correlated significantly positively with host age, and Firmicutes (phylum) correlated positively with body mass index (BMI), but inversely with ZO1.At the genus level, systemic indices, such as age, BMI, and BDNF, correlated predominantly with LM, whereas systemic and local indices, such as TLR2, correlated with both MAM and LM. ZO1 and TLR4 which usually exert a local effect, mainly correlated with MAM. Different bacteria were associated with the expression of different proteins. Our data suggest that The microbial compositions of LM and MAM differed. Different gut bacteria may play different roles by regulating the expression of different proteins.