Analysis of Human Gut Microbiome: Taxonomy and Metabolic Functions in Thai Adults.

Nachon Raethong,Suttipun Keawsompong,Massalin Nakphaichit,Wanlapa Weerapakorn,Narissara Suratannon,Witida Sathitkowitchai,Wanwipa Vongsangnak

doi:10.3390/genes12030331

Abstract

The gut microbiome plays a major role in the maintenance of human health. Characterizing the taxonomy and metabolic functions of the human gut microbiome is necessary for enhancing health. Here, we analyzed the metagenomic sequencing, assembly and construction of a meta-gene catalogue of the human gut microbiome with the overall aim of investigating the taxonomy and metabolic functions of the gut microbiome in Thai adults. As a result, the integrative analysis of 16S rRNA gene and whole metagenome shotgun (WMGS) sequencing data revealed that the dominant gut bacterial families were Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae of the Firmicutes phylum. Consistently, across 3.8 million (M) genes annotated from 163.5 gigabases (Gb) of WMGS sequencing data, a significant number of genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism of the dominant bacterial families were identified. Further identification of bacterial community-wide metabolic functions promisingly highlighted the importance of Roseburia and Faecalibacterium involvement in central carbon metabolism, sugar utilization and metabolism towards butyrate biosynthesis. This work presents an initial study of shotgun metagenomics in a Thai population-based cohort in a developing Southeast Asian country.

Highlights

The human gut ecosystem is extremely large and harbors hundreds of microbiome [1]with over three million genes encoded by their collective genomes, which accounts for 150 times more than the human gene complement [2]
Among 60 Thai adults from the middle region of Thailand that were enrolled in the cohort, 56 participants were selected based on stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria for further assessment and analysis
The results clearly showed that the highest number of genes were involved in carbohydrate metabolism of the gut microbiome in Thai adults

Summary

Introduction

The human gut ecosystem is extremely large and harbors hundreds of microbiome [1]with over three million genes encoded by their collective genomes, which accounts for 150 times more than the human gene complement [2]. The microbiome plays an essential role in human immune maturation by mediating host immune responses [5] Both host and environmental factors can influence microbial colonization and functions. Several bacterial taxa, such as Prevotella and Bifidobacterium, which predominantly colonize in healthy humans, together with other microbial members of the gut, such as Blautia and Roseburia species, synthesize shortchain fatty acids (SCFA) including acetate, propionate and butyrate [6]. These microbialderived SCFA are subsequently taken up by the host as an energy source [7]. The diversity of gut microbiome and their functions are considerably associated with host nutrition and health status whereas dysfunctions of the gut microbiome can predispose the host to a number of human diseases, such as diabetes [11], inflammatory bowel disease [12], cardiovascular disease [13] and respiratory illness [14]

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