scholarly journals Functional Diversity within Gut Microbiomes: Implications for Conserving Biodiversity

Conservation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-326
Author(s):  
Cameron S. Dodd ◽  
Catherine E. Grueber
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Functional Characterisation ◽  
Microbiome Research

Conservation research has historically been conducted at the macro level, focusing on animals and plants and their role in the wider ecosystem. However, there is a growing appreciation of the importance of microbial communities in conservation. Most microbiome research in conservation thus far has used amplicon sequencing methods to assess the taxonomic composition of microbial communities and inferred functional capabilities from these data. However, as manipulation of the microbiome as a conservation tool becomes more and more feasible, there is a growing need to understand the direct functional consequences of shifts in microbiome composition. This review outlines the latest advances in microbiome research from a functional perspective and how these data can be used to inform conservation strategies. This review will also consider some of the challenges faced when studying the microbiomes of wild animals and how they can be overcome by careful study design and sampling methods. Environmental changes brought about by climate change or direct human actions have the potential to alter the taxonomic composition of microbiomes in wild populations. Understanding how taxonomic shifts affect the function of microbial communities is important for identifying species most threatened by potential disruption to their microbiome. Preservation or even restoration of these functions has the potential to be a powerful tool in conservation biology and a shift towards functional characterisation of gut microbiome diversity will be an important first step.

scholarly journals Deciphering the Influence of Multiple Anthropogenic Inputs on Taxonomic and Functional Profiles of the Microbial Communities in Yitong River, Northeast China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Yang Huo ◽  
Zhiruo Zhang ◽  
Suiyi Zhu ◽  
Wei Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Fecal Indicator ◽  
16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Anthropogenic Inputs ◽  
Wwtp Effluent ◽  
The Impact

Abstract We conducted physicochemical parameters analysis, 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to explore the impact of human inputs on the bacterioplankton communities within a tributary of the largest river flowing through a megacity in northeast China. Agriculture largely accounted for the alteration of diversity and functions of the microbial communities. Furthermore, nutrients were significantly declined at the reservoir outlet, and WWTP effluent discharge caused changes in the river microbial community. NH3-N and NO3--N were the main environmental factors that drive the shift of the bacteria community, and rare taxa played a more important role in the response to environmental changes compared with the abundant ones. The occurrence of the human-specific fecal indicator was mostly derived from agriculture, and its increase in relative abundance was observed in the effluent. Thus, our study provides guidance for ecological assessment and management of rivers by revealing the response pattern of river bacterioplankton to multiple types of anthropogenic stressors.

scholarly journals Cloacal swabs and alcohol bird specimens are good proxies for compositional analyses of gut microbial communities of Great tits (Parus major)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasun H Bodawatta ◽  
Katerina Puzejova ◽  
Katerina Sam ◽  
Michael Poulsen ◽  
Knud A. Jønsson
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Digestive Tract ◽  
Wild Bird ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Cloacal Swab ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Microbiome Research

Abstract Background Comprehensive studies of wild bird microbiomes are often limited by difficulties of sample acquisition. However, widely used non-invasive cloacal swab methods and under-explored museum specimens preserved in alcohol provide promising avenues to increase our understanding of wild bird microbiomes, provided that they accurately portray natural microbial community compositions. To investigate this assertion, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of Great tit (Parus major) gut microbiomes to compare 1) microbial communities obtained from dissected digestive tract regions and cloacal swabs, and 2) microbial communities obtained from freshly dissected gut regions and from samples preserved in alcohol for two weeks or two months, respectively. Results We found no significant differences in alpha diversities in communities of different gut regions and cloacal swabs (except in OTU richness between the dissected cloacal region and the cloacal swabs), or between fresh and alcohol preserved samples. However, we did find significant differences in beta diversity and community composition of cloacal swab samples compared to different gut regions. Despite these community-level differences, swab samples qualitatively captured the majority of the bacterial diversity throughout the gut better than any single compartment. Bacterial community compositions of alcohol-preserved specimens did not differ significantly from freshly dissected samples, although some low-abundant taxa were lost in the alcohol preserved specimens. Conclusions Our findings suggest that cloacal swabs, similar to non-invasive fecal sampling, qualitatively depict the gut microbiota composition without having to collect birds to extract the full digestive tract. Secondly, the satisfactory depiction of gut microbial communities in alcohol preserved samples opens up for the possibility of using an enormous resource readily available through museum collections to characterize bird gut microbiomes. The use of extensive museum specimen collections of birds for microbial gut analyses would allow for investigations of temporal patterns of wild bird gut microbiomes, including the potential effects of climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Overall, the utilization of cloacal swabs and museum alcohol specimens can positively impact bird gut microbiome research to help increase our understanding of the role and evolution of wild bird hosts and gut microbial communities.

Clearer than mud? Using environmental DNA to track historical shifts in lake communities.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Pearman ◽  
Laura Biessy ◽  
Georgia Thomson-Laing ◽  
Lizette Reyes ◽  
Claire Shepherd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Environmental Dna ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Molecular Methods ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Metabolic Potential ◽  
Dna And Rna

<p>A continuous record of environmental history is stored in lake sediments providing an avenue to explore current and historical lake communities. Traditionally paleolimnological methods have focussed on macroscopic indicators (e.g. pollen, chronomids, diatoms) to investigate environmental changes but the application of environmental DNA techniques has enabled the investigation of microbial communities and other soft bodied organisms through time. The ‘Our lakes’ health; past, present, future (Lakes380)’ project aims to combined traditional and molecular methods to explore shifts in biological communities over the last 1,000 years (pre-human arrival in New Zealand). Sediments cores have been collected from a wide diversity of lakes across New Zealand and 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding approaches of both DNA and RNA applied to reveal how microbial community changes across time and especially in response to the arrival of humans and associated changes to the landscape and lake environments. We further investigate the changes in inferred metabolic potential of the microbial communities as the taxonomic composition of the lake differs over time. Finally, we combine these novel molecular methods with hyperspectral scanning and pollen data to increase the knowledge of changes in lake communities and identifying the timing of changes in lake health. The combination of methodologies provides a greater understanding of the environmental history of lake systems and will help to inform management decisions relating to the restoration and protection of lake health.</p>

Understanding the development of the gut microbiome in pigs: an overview

2022 ◽  
pp. 179-202
Author(s):  
Marion Borey ◽  
◽  
Jordi Estelle ◽  
Claire Rogel-Gaillard ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Gut Microbiome ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Feed Additives ◽  
Fecal Microbiome ◽  
Host Genetics ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Host Development

Living organisms continuously and intimately interact with commensal microbial communities referred to as microbiota and microbiomes. These complex ecosystems provide their hosts with vital services. The gut microbiome develops and diversifies after birth in pigs, as in all mammals. The diversification dynamics follows the host development early in life, reaches an initial level of richness and stabilization before 60 days of age, and continues to mature but at a much lower rate while ageing and adapting to environmental changes. There is a wide variation in microbiome composition at individual and group levels, due to a combination of many factors including host genetics, environmental factors, feed and feed additives, and farm practices. Although the gut microbiome displays region-specific composition along the digestive tract, with likely sequential, complementary biological functionalities, the fecal microbiome is often considered as a good surrogate and provides many of the associations identified with host phenotypes.

scholarly journals Exploring the functional composition of the human microbiome using a hand-curated microbial trait database

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake L. Weissman ◽  
Sonia Dogra ◽  
Keyan Javadi ◽  
Samantha Bolten ◽  
Rachel Flint ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Complex Traits ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Functional Composition ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Functional Perspective

Abstract Background Even when microbial communities vary wildly in their taxonomic composition, their functional composition is often surprisingly stable. This suggests that a functional perspective could provide much deeper insight into the principles governing microbiome assembly. Much work to date analyzing the functional composition of microbial communities, however, relies heavily on inference from genomic features. Unfortunately, output from these methods can be hard to interpret and often suffers from relatively high error rates. Results We built and analyzed a domain-specific microbial trait database from known microbe-trait pairs recorded in the literature to better understand the functional composition of the human microbiome. Using a combination of phylogentically conscious machine learning tools and a network science approach, we were able to link particular traits to areas of the human body, discover traits that determine the range of body areas a microbe can inhabit, and uncover drivers of metabolic breadth. Conclusions Domain-specific trait databases are an effective compromise between noisy methods to infer complex traits from genomic data and exhaustive, expensive attempts at database curation from the literature that do not focus on any one subset of taxa. They provide an accurate account of microbial traits and, by limiting the number of taxa considered, are feasible to build within a reasonable time-frame. We present a database specific for the human microbiome, in the hopes that this will prove useful for research into the functional composition of human-associated microbial communities.

scholarly journals The Associations between Diet and Socioeconomic Disparities and the Intestinal Microbiome in Preadolescence

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2645
Author(s):  
Yelena Lapidot ◽  
Leah Reshef ◽  
Rebecca Goldsmith ◽  
Wasef Na’amnih ◽  
Eias Kassem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids ◽  
Dietary Intake ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Intestinal Microbiome ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Microbial Composition ◽  
Microbiome Composition

The intestinal microbiome continues to shift and develop throughout youth and could play a pivotal role in health and wellbeing throughout adulthood. Environmental and interpersonal determinants are strong mediators of the intestinal microbiome during the rapid growth period of preadolescence. We aim to delineate associations between the gut microbiome composition, body mass index (BMI), dietary intake and socioeconomic status (SES) in a cohort of ethnically homogenous preadolescents. This cohort included 139 Arab children aged 10–12 years, from varying socioeconomic strata. Dietary intake was assessed using the 24-h recall method. The intestinal microbiome was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Microbial composition was associated with SES, showing an overrepresentation of Prevotella and Eubacterium in children with lower SES. Higher BMI was associated with lower microbial diversity and altered taxonomic composition, including higher levels of Collinsella, especially among participants from lower SES. Intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids was the strongest predictor of bacterial alterations, including an independent association with Lachnobacterium and Lactobacillus. This study demonstrates that the intestinal microbiome in preadolescents is associated with socioeconomic determinants, BMI and dietary intake, specifically with higher consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Thus, tailored interventions during these crucial years have the potential to improve health disparities throughout the lifespan.

scholarly journals Cervicovaginal microbiome composition drives metabolic profiles in healthy pregnancy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Oliver ◽  
Brandon LaMere ◽  
Claudia Weihe ◽  
Stephen Wandro ◽  
Karen L. Lindsay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Metagenomic Sequencing ◽  
Vaginal Microbiome ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Aryl Hydrocarbon ◽  
Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing ◽  
Ph Range

AbstractBackgroundMicrobes and their metabolic products influence early-life immune and microbiome development, yet remain understudied during pregnancy. Vaginal microbial communities are typically dominated by one or a few well adapted microbes, which are able to survive in a narrow pH range. In comparison to other human-associated microbes, vaginal microbes are adapted to live on host-derived carbon sources, likely sourced from glycogen and mucin present in the vaginal environment.MethodsUsing 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing, we characterized the cervicovaginal microbiomes of 18 healthy women throughout the three trimesters of pregnancy. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing permitted refinement of the taxonomy established by amplicon sequencing, and identification of functional genes. Additionally, we analyzed saliva and urine metabolomes using GC-TOF and LC-MS/MS lipidomics approaches for samples from mothers and their infants through the first year of life.ResultsAmplicon sequencing revealed most women had either a simple community with one highly abundant species of Lactobacillus or a more diverse community characterized by a high abundance of Gardnerella, as has also been previously described in several independent cohorts. Integrating GC-TOF and lipidomics data with amplicon sequencing, we found metabolites that distinctly associate with particular communities. For example, cervicovaginal microbial communities dominated by Lactobacillus crispatus also have high mannitol levels, which contradicts the basic characterization of L. crispatus as a homofermentative Lactobacillus species. It may be that fluctuations in which Lactobacillus dominate a particular vaginal microbiome are dictated by the availability of host sugars, such as fructose, which is the most likely substrate being converted to mannitol. Furthermore, indole-3-lactate (ILA) was also indicative of L. crispatus specifically. ILA has immunomodulatory properties through binding the human aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which may maintain the especially low diversity of L. crispatus dominated communities.ConclusionsOverall, using a multi-‘omic approach, we begin to address the genetic and molecular means by which a particular vaginal microbiome becomes vulnerable to large changes in composition.

Cloacal swabs and alcohol bird specimens are good proxies for compositional analyses of gut microbial communities of Great tits (Parus major)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasun H Bodawatta ◽  
Katerina Puzejova ◽  
Katerina Sam ◽  
Michael Poulsen ◽  
Knud A. Jønsson
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Digestive Tract ◽  
Wild Bird ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Cloacal Swab ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Microbiome Research

Abstract Background: Comprehensive studies of wild bird microbiomes are often limited by difficulties of sample acquisition. However, widely used non-invasive cloacal swab methods and under-explored museum specimens preserved in alcohol provide promising avenues to increase our understanding of wild bird microbiomes, provided that they accurately portray natural microbial community compositions. To investigate this assertion, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of Great tit (Parus major) gut microbiomes to compare 1) microbial communities obtained from dissected digestive tract regions and cloacal swabs, and 2) microbial communities obtained from freshly dissected gut regions and from samples preserved in alcohol for two weeks or two months, respectively. Results: We found no significant differences in alpha diversities in communities of different gut regions and cloacal swabs (except in OTU richness between the dissected cloacal region and the cloacal swabs), or between fresh and alcohol preserved samples. However, we did find significant differences in beta diversity and community composition of cloacal swab samples compared to different gut regions. Despite these quantitative differences, swab samples qualitatively captured the bacterial diversity throughout the gut better than any single compartment. Bacterial community compositions of alcohol-preserved specimens did not differ significantly from freshly dissected samples, although some low-abundant taxa were lost in the alcohol preserved specimens. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that widely used non-invasive cloacal swabs qualitatively depict the gut microbiota composition without having to collect birds to extract the full digestive tract. Secondly, the satisfactory depiction of gut microbial communities in alcohol preserved samples opens up for the possibility of using an enormous resource readily available through museum collections to characterize bird gut microbiomes. The use of extensive museum specimen collections of birds for microbial gut analyses would allow for investigations of temporal patterns of wild bird gut microbiomes, including the potential effects of climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Overall, the utilization of cloacal swabs and museum alcohol specimens can positively impact bird gut microbiome research to help increase our understanding of the role and evolution of wild bird hosts and gut microbial communities.

scholarly journals Dynamic Changes in Microbiome Composition Following Mare’s Milk Intake for Prevention of Collateral Antibiotic Effect

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almagul Kushugulova ◽  
Ulrike Löber ◽  
Saniya Akpanova ◽  
Kairat Rysbekov ◽  
Samat Kozhakhmetov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Antibiotic Treatment ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Recovery Phase ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Immune Parameters ◽  
Antibiotic Effect

IntroductionProbiotics and prebiotics are widely used for recovery of the human gut microbiome after antibiotic treatment. High antibiotic usage is especially common in children with developing microbiome. We hypothesized that dry Mare’s milk, which is rich in biologically active substances without containing live bacteria, could be used as a prebiotic in promoting microbial diversity following antibiotic treatment in children. The present pilot study aims to determine the impacts of dry Mare’s milk on the diversity of gut bacterial communities when administered during antibiotic treatment and throughout the subsequent recovery phase.MethodsSix children aged 4 to 5 years and diagnosed with bilateral bronchopneumonia were prescribed cephalosporin antibiotics. During the 60 days of the study, three children consumed dry Mare’s milk whereas the other three did not. Fecal samples were collected daily during antibiotic therapy and every 5 days after antibiotic therapy. Total DNA was isolated and taxonomic composition of gut microbiota was analyzed by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. To assess the immune status of the gut, stool samples were analyzed by bead-based multiplex assays.ResultsMare’s milk treatment seems to prevent the bloom of Mollicutes, while preventing the loss of Coriobacteriales. Immunological analysis of the stool reveals an effect of Mare’s milk on local immune parameters under the present conditions.

scholarly journals Rumen bacterial community of young and adult of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District of Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasim A. Laishev ◽  
Larisa A. Ilina ◽  
Valentina A. Filippova ◽  
Timur P. Dunyashev ◽  
Georgiy Yu. Laptev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Operational Taxonomic Unit ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Food Material ◽  
Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽  
Microbiome Composition

AbstractThe aim of the work was to compare the taxonomic composition of the rumen procariotic community in young and adult individuals of Nenets breed reindeer (Rangifer tarandus ) from the central part of the Yamal region by using the NGS method (next generation sequencing) and compare the microbiome composition of reindeer with the microbiome of their initial vegetation food material. The obtained data showed that the dominant position in microbial communities, like that of other ruminants, was occupied by representatives of phylum Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, whose total share between observed groups did not differ significantly. The composition of the microbiome of the rumen of the investigated group of animals was completely different from the microbiome structure of the initial vegetation cover. Digestion of vegetation by reindeers resulted in complex transformation in the initial plant microbiome and an increase of biological diversity which was expressed in operational taxonomic unit (OTU) numbers increasing and changes in indexes of alpha-diversity parameters. According to the results of alpha- and beta- diversity of the rumen microbial communities, the greatest uniqueness was revealed for the microbiomes of the adults in comparison with calves and young. The presence of changes in the biodiversity indexes of the rumen microbiota in the reindeer, examined by us, confirm the opinion of the researchers that the microbial community may also reflect the physiological state of the animals. It has also been demonstrated that the presence of the phylum Verrucomicrobia, and the genera Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas, etc., may be specific to Nenets breed reindeer and have a pattern with their presence on various plants and lichens that are part of the reindeer diet. This is partially confirmed by data on plants microbiome taxonomy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document