First insight into oral microbiome diversity in Papua New Guineans reveals a specific regional signature

Abstract

The oral microbiota is a highly complex and diversified part of the human microbiome. Being locate d at the interface between the human body and the exterior environment, this microbiota can deepen our understanding of the environmental impacts on the global status of human health. This research topic has been well addressed in Westernized populations, but these populations only re pre sent a fraction of human diversity. Papua New Guinea hosts very diverse environments and one of the most unique human biological diversities worldwide. In this work we performed the first known characterization of the oral microbiome in 85 Papua New Guinean individuals living in different environments, using a qualitative and quantitative approach. We found a significant geographical structure of the Papua New Guineans oral microbiome, especially in the groups most i sol ate d from urban spaces. In comparison to other global populations, two bacterial genera related to iron absorption were significantly more abundant in Papua New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians, which suggests a shared oral microbiome signature. Further studies will be needed to confirm and explore this possible regional-specific oral microbiome profile.

Evolutionary ecology of human‐associated microbes

“…These diets are associated with different gut microbiota that appear to be better suited to help the deer process those diets. Similarly, Pedro et al (2023) show that the human oral microbiome shows geographical patterns in Papua New Guinea. These patterns may be linked to diet/ecology, ancestry, and/or lifestyle.…”

“…As a result, humans themselves are exsuited to help the deer process those diets. Similarly,Pedro et al (2023) show that the human oral microbiome shows geographicalpatternsinPapuaNewGuinea.Thesepatternsmaybe linkedtodiet/ecology,ancestry,and/orlifestyle. albicans,Cryptococcus neoformans,andAspergillus fumigatus are three fungal species which are responsible for most systemic infections in humans.…”

“…As a result, humans themselves are exposed to different environments across space and time, and animals in habitats that are close to human settlements may also be exposed to different environments. Yuan et al (2023) and Pedro et al (2023) examine how these patterns of spatial environmental variation can affect the microbiome. Yuan et al (2023) show that human impacts on the habitats of roe deer in China lead to different roe deer diets.…”

Editorial 2024

“…These 21 papers focus on various types of microbial diversity, including domesticates, pathogens, and host‐associated microbiota, using a range of methodologies including population and evolutionary genomics, metagenomics, and field and laboratory experiments. As a whole, the papers address a few main subjects: domesticated microorganisms and microorganisms thriving in anthropogenic environments (Harrouard et al., 2023; Silva et al., 2023; von Gastrow et al., 2023), fungal pathogens (Ali et al., 2023; Louet et al., 2023; Rogério et al., 2023; Saubin et al., 2023; Stalder et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023; Zewdie et al., 2023), metagenomics and microbiomes of animals and human (Bischofberger & Hall, 2023; Corsi et al., 2023; Mac Alpine et al., 2023; Moeller, 2023; Pedro et al., 2023; Peimbert & Alcaraz, 2023; Tessandier et al., 2023; Yuan et al., 2023), and metagenomics and microbiomes of crops (Gao et al., 2023; Richard et al., 2023). Collectively the articles in this Special Issue ‘underline the huge impact of the anthropogenic environment in microbial evolution, including the emergence and spread of pathogens as well as the benefits provided by domesticated or mutualistic fungi and bacteria’ (Giraud et al., 2023).…”

“…Rogério et al, 2023;Saubin et al, 2023;Stalder et al, 2023;Wang et al, 2023;Zewdie et al, 2023), metagenomics and microbiomes of animals and human(Bischofberger & Hall, 2023;Corsi et al, 2023;Mac Alpine et al, 2023;Moeller, 2023;Pedro et al, 2023;Peimbert & Alcaraz, 2023;Tessandier et al, 2023;Yuan et al, 2023), and metagenomics and microbiomes of crops(Gao et al, 2023;Richard et al, 2023). Collectively the articles in this Special Issue 'underline the huge impact of the anthropogenic environment in microbial evolution, including the emergence and spread of pathogens as well as the benefits provided by domesticated or mutualistic fungi and bacteria'(Giraud et al, 2023).Finally, our third Special Issue, Insights into Ecological & Evolutionary Processes via Community Metabarcoding includes 'papers that highlight the power of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data to address classic questions in ecology and evolution, particularly focused on metabarcoding (amplicon) datasets in conjunction with complementary -omics data types and/or models/theory to infer overall ecosystem processes'(Gillespie et al, 2023).…”