Food Science and Technology Department
Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications
ORCID IDs
Abu-Ali http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2599-2937
Lloyd-Price http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0112-190X
Mallick http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4956-2429
Drew http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8813-0816
Izard http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5904-5436
Chan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7284-6767
Huttenhower http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1110-0096
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
2018
Citation
Nature Microbiology (March 2018) 3: 356–366
Abstract
The gut microbiome is intimately related to human health, but it is not yet known which functional activities are driven by specific microorganisms' ecological configurations or transcription. We report a large-scale investigation of 372 human fecal metatranscriptomes and 929 metagenomes from a subset of 308 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. We identified a metatranscriptomic 'core' universally transcribed over time and across participants, often by different microorganisms. In contrast to the housekeeping functions enriched in this core, a 'variable' metatranscriptome included specialized pathways that were differentially expressed both across participants and among microorganisms. Finally, longitudinal metagenomic profiles allowed ecological interaction network reconstruction, which remained stable over the six-month timespan, as did strain tracking within and between participants. These results provide an initial characterization of human fecal microbial ecology into core, subject-specific, microorganism-specific, and temporally variable transcription, and they differentiate metagenomically versus metatranscriptomically informative aspects of the human fecal microbiome.
Included in
Biomedical Informatics Commons, Digestive, Oral, and Skin Physiology Commons, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Commons, Food Science Commons, Genetic Phenomena Commons, Genomics Commons, Medical Genetics Commons
Comments
United States government work