Finding NEMO: Discovering Novel Endemic Micro-Organisms in the Gut Microbiome Using a Genome-Centric Metagenomics Analysis

摘要

The human gut microbiome is a rich ocean of biological diversity. However, the methods used to profile microbial communities often lack the resolution needed to catch and define novel organisms, and they can end up lost in the sea of data. Shotgun metagenomic profiling and genome-centric analysis of microbiomes can overcome these issues, resulting in accurate identification or organisms while avoiding false positive results. Analysis of the metagenomes from more than 1,000 fecal microbiome samples from an Australian population discovered over 800 novel species (using the recently proposed genome-based taxonomy GTDB). Surprisingly, some of these novel species are commonly observed in the population, with many found in 50% of people. This metagenomics approach couples the discovery of these species with the annotation of their metabolic functions, enabling predictions of the roles the novel organisms have in the gut. Population-wide metagenomic analysis linked with medical questionnaires has revealed correlations between many of these novel species and disease states. These organisms and their metabolites are potential candidates for biotherapeutic development. This work highlights the utility of genome-centric metagenomics analysis in finding these novel species. Articles from Journal of Biomolecular Techniques : JBT are provided here courtesy of The Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities.