Abstract
ABSTRACTIntroduction: The human oral microbiota continues to change phenotype by many factors (environment, diet, genetics, stress, etc.), throughout life with a major impact on human physiology, psychology, metabolism and immune system. Amongst one such factor with unique and extreme environmental conditions is Antarctica. The sea voyage to Antarctica has many risks than at station for expedition members. In this study, we investigated the influence of Antarctic sea voyage and stay at the Indian Antarctic station Maitri, on the health of Indian expedition members by using a metagenomic approach to explore oral biodiversity.Methods: Saliva samples were collected from 12 expedition members, at 3 different time points viz. before the start of the ship voyage, after the completion of the voyage and at the end of the stay at Antarctica. Samples were analyzed for whole genome and 16S rRNA sequencing.Result: The oral microbial diversity of the expedition members was significantly changed, during the days of sailing and after the stay at Antarctica. The oral microbiota comprised mainly of the phyla Firmicutes (46%, 29% & 36%); Proteobacteria (40%, 48%, & 44%), Bacteroidetes (10%, 22%, &14%), Fusobacterium and Actinobacteria (5%-1%) and Unclassified (17%, 25% & 23%), at three time points, respectively. Further, the differential analysis of microbes across all the phyla revealed 89, 157 and 157 OTUs genera. The altered microbiota indicated changes in amino acid, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.Conclusion: Study suggests that understanding the compositional and functional differences in the oral microbiota of Antarctic expedition members, can lay the foundation to relate these differences to their health status. It will further demonstrate the need for providing improved management during ship voyage and stay in Antarctica.
Highlights
The human oral microbiota continues to change phenotype by many factors, throughout life with a major impact on human physiology, psychology, metabolism and immune system
We investigated the influence of Antarctic sea voyage and stay at the Indian Antarctic station Maitri, on the health of Indian expedition members by using a metagenomic approach to explore oral biodiversity
The oral microbiota of 12 members (36 saliva samples) of 34th Indian Scientific Summer Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA), collected at Time point 1 (T1), Time point 2 (T2) and Time point 3 (T3) time points, were analyzed by performing 16S rRNA and WGS to illustrate the microbial diversity during 25 days of voyage and 30 days stay in Antarctica
Summary
The human oral microbiota continues to change phenotype by many factors (environment, diet, genetics, stress, etc.), throughout life with a major impact on human physiology, psychology, metabolism and immune system. Conclusion: Study suggests that understanding the compositional and functional differences in the oral microbiota of Antarctic expedition members, can lay the foundation to relate these differences to their health status It will further demonstrate the need for providing improved management during ship voyage and stay in Antarctica. Seafaring to the most hostile and least populated continent on earth implies numerous environmental challenges for humans including ocean and Antarctic milieu, such as high humidity (90–100%), salinity (30–35%), UV radiation, stormy waves, blizzards, extreme low temperatures, isolation, fear, confinement, altered circadian rhythm and inadequate supply of fresh fruits and vegetables This makes life onboard and in Antarctica unique, causing significant physiological and psychological problems. With the advances in the technologies, much attention has been paid to the health management of expedition members during the voyage and stay in Antarctica, but yet many areas of research remain unexplored like how the extreme environment, stress, fearful journey and diet alter the gut and oral microbiota of individuals, remains unclear
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