• Our genes shape our gut bacteria

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Thu Jul 8 21:30:34 2021
    Our genes shape our gut bacteria

    Date:
    July 8, 2021
    Source:
    University of Notre Dame
    Summary:
    Researchers discovered that most bacteria in the gut microbiome
    are heritable after looking at more than 16,000 gut microbiome
    profiles collected over 14 years from a long-studied population
    of baboons in Kenya's Amboseli National Park.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    Our gut microbiome -- the ever-changing "rainforest" of bacteria living
    in our intestines -- is primarily affected by our lifestyle, including
    what we eat or the medications we take, most studies show.


    ==========================================================================
    But a University of Notre Dame study has found a much greater genetic
    component at play than was once known.

    In the study, published recently in Science, researchers discovered
    that most bacteria in the gut microbiome are heritable after looking
    at more than 16,000 gut microbiome profiles collected over 14 years
    from a long-studied population of baboons in Kenya's Amboseli National
    Park. However, this heritability changes over time, across seasons and
    with age. The team also found that several of the microbiome traits
    heritable in baboons are also heritable in humans.

    "The environment plays a bigger role in shaping the microbiome than your
    genes, but what this study does is move us away from the idea that genes
    play very little role in the microbiome to the idea that genes play
    a pervasive, if small, role," said Elizabeth Archie, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a principal investigator on the
    study who is also affiliated with the Eck Institute for Global Health
    and the Environmental Change Initiative.

    The gut microbiome performs several jobs. In addition to helping with
    food digestion, it creates essential vitamins and assists with training
    the immune system. This new research is the first to show a definitive connection with heritability.

    Previous studies on the gut microbiome in humans showed only 5 to 13
    percent of microbes were heritable, but Archie and the research team hypothesized the low number resulted from a "snapshot" approach to
    studying the gut microbiome: All prior studies only measured microbiomes
    at one point in time.



    ==========================================================================
    In their study, the researchers used fecal samples from 585 wild Amboseli baboons, typically with more than 20 samples per animal. Microbiome
    profiles from the samples showed variations in the baboons' diets between
    wet and dry seasons. Collected samples included detailed information
    about the host, including known descendants, data on environmental
    conditions, social behavior, demography and group-level diet at the time
    of collection.

    The research team found that 97 percent of microbiome traits,
    including overall diversity and the abundance of individual microbes,
    were significantly heritable. However, the percentage of heritability
    appears much lower -- down to only 5 percent -- when samples are tested
    from only a single point in time, as is done in humans. This emphasizes
    the significance of studying samples from the same host over time.

    "This really suggests that in human work, part of the reason researchers haven't found that heritability is because in humans they don't have
    a decade and half of fecal samples in the freezer, and they don't have
    all the initial host (individual) information they need to tease these
    details out," said Archie.

    The team did find evidence that environmental factors influence
    trait heritability in the gut microbiome. Microbiome heritability was
    typically 48 percent higher in the dry season than in the wet, which
    may be explained by the baboons' more diverse diet during the rainy
    season. Heritability also increased with age, according to the study.

    Because the research also showed the significant impact of environment
    on the gut microbiomes in baboons, their findings agreed with previous
    studies showing that environmental effects on the variation in the gut microbiome play a larger role than additive genetic effects. Combined
    with their discovery of the genetic component, the team plans to refine
    its understanding of the environmental factors involved.

    But knowing that genes in the gut microbiome are heritable opens the door
    to identifying microbes in the future that are shaped by genetics. In
    the future, therapies could be tailored for people based on the genetic
    makeup of their gut microbiome.

    The Amboseli Baboon Project, started in 1971, is one of the
    longest-running studies of wild primates in the world. Focused on the
    savannah baboon, the project is located in the Amboseli ecosystem of
    East Africa, north of Mount Kilimanjaro. Research teams have tracked
    hundreds of baboons in several social groups over the course of their
    entire lives. Researchers currently monitor around 300 animals, but have accumulated life history information on more than 1,500 animals.

    The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Notre_Dame. Original
    written by Deanna Csomo McCool. Note: Content may be edited for style
    and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Laura Grieneisen, Mauna Dasari, Trevor J. Gould, Johannes R. Bjo"rk,
    Jean-Christophe Grenier, Vania Yotova, David Jansen, Neil Gottel,
    Jacob B. Gordon, Niki H. Learn, Laurence R. Gesquiere, Tim L. Wango,
    Raphael S.

    Mututua, J. Kinyua Warutere, Long'ida Siodi, Jack A. Gilbert,
    Luis B.

    Barreiro, Susan C. Alberts, Jenny Tung, Elizabeth A. Archie,
    Ran Blekhman. Gut microbiome heritability is nearly
    universal but environmentally contingent. Science, 2021 DOI:
    10.1126/science.aba5483 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210708170331.htm

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