Highlights in this article
The microbiome is one of the keys to our health. How do we obtain and develop a microbiome in the body? Using more than 9,700 human metagenomes and computational profiling, Dr. Segata’s research demonstrated that oral microbiome sharing occurred largely through interaction with partners and friends at older ages, but not at the birth. This finding underscores the relevance of the microbiome in microbiome-associated diseases.
Background
The human microbiome is the collective genomes of the microorganisms that inhabit the human body. These microorganisms, which include bacteria, fungi, and viruses, play a critical role in maintaining human health and contributing to many processes such as digestion, immunity, and metabolism. The human microbiome is incredibly diverse and is shaped by a variety of factors, such as diet, lifestyle, and environment. Microorganisms can be acquired from other individuals, and the composition of the microbiome changes over time in an individual, displaying both high temporal variability and personalization. Understanding the complexity of the human microbiome is essential in order to study microbiome transmission and its effects on health and diseases.
The relationship between the human microbiome and disease is complex and still being explored. Research has suggested that the composition of the human microbiome can influence the risk of developing a disease, as well as its progression and severity. For example, changes in the microbiome have been associated with a variety of conditions such as obesity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and some forms of cancer. Additionally, the transmission of microorganisms from person to person has been linked to certain communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, and may play a role in non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes. Understanding how the human microbiome affects diseases is key to developing new treatments and prevention strategies. However, little is known about how the microbiome is obtained and developed.
Discovery
Dr. Segata’s research presents an exploration of the patterns of person-to-person transmission of microorganism strains in humans. Our genome is inherited from our parents and remains stable over our lifetime, with limited accumulation of nucleotide variations. By contrast, the genetic makeup of our microorganism complement (the human microbiome) is seeded at birth and changes over time, displaying both high temporal variability and personalization. Factors including diet and lifestyle are known to modulate the composition of the human microbiome, but as very few members of the microbiome can thrive outside the human body, most microorganisms must be acquired from other individuals such as partners, roommates, and friends, but not from inheritance from parents. Dr. Segata’s research group quantified and characterized the patterns of person-to-person microbiome strain sharing across multiple scenarios to provide a comprehensive description of the microbiome transmission landscape. Their findings will advance our understanding of the complexity of the human microbiome, and can help address the ‘communicable’ factor that microbiome transmission adds to diseases and conditions currently considered non-communicable.
For more information:
Nature 2023 1/18
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05620-1
The person-to-person transmission landscape of the gut and oral microbiomes
Dr. Segata’s website: