Pyrosequencing analysis of the human microbiota of healthy Chinese undergraduates

Abstract

BackgroundElucidating the biogeography of bacterial communities on the human body is critical for establishing healthy baselines from which to detect differences associated with disease; however, little is known about the baseline bacterial profiles from various human habitats of healthy Chinese undergraduates.ResultsUsing parallel barcoded 454 pyrosequencing targeting on the 16S rRNA gene V3 region, the bacterial diversity of the nasopharynx, saliva, dominant hands, and feces were investigated from 10 healthy Chinese junior boarding undergraduates at Zhejiang University. The participants were 21–24 years of age with a body mass index (BMI) < 24 kg/m2. A total of 156,717 high-quality pyrosequencing reads were obtained for evaluating bacterial diversity, which represented 29,887 unique phylotypes. The overall taxonomic distribution of the 16S rRNA gene-based amplicons demonstrated that these 4 habitats of the human body harbored distinct microbiota and could be divided into different clusters according to anatomic site, while the established patterns of bacterial diversity followed the human body habitat (feces, hands, saliva, and nasopharynx). Although significant inter-individual variation was observed, the healthy microbiota still shared a large number of phylotypes in each habitat, but not among the four habitats, indicating that a core microbiome existed in each healthy habitat. The vast majority of sequences from these different habitats were classified into different taxonmies that became the predominant bacteria of the healthy microbiota.ConclusionsWe first established the framework of microbial communities from four healthy human habitats of the same participants with similar living environments for the Chinese undergraduates. Our data represent an important step for determining the diversity of Chinese healthy microbiota, and can be used for more large-scale studies that focus on the interactions between healthy and diseases states for young Chinese adults in the same age range.

Indoor-Air Microbiome in an Urban Subway Network: Diversity and Dynamics

“…Also, because occupants have a great impact on the indoor air microbiomes, variations in microbiomes of different population groups may influence air microbial assemblages (24), a phenomenon that has been reported in studies investigating indoor surfaces (22,53). One of the common genera detected in this study, Enhydrobacter, is a documented resident on the human skin but may be present in higher proportions in Chinese individuals (44). Such observations underscore the need to take the occupants' microbiomes into account when examining indoor microbial assemblages.…”

“…For example, soil-dwelling genera, such as Arthrobacter and Psychrobacter, which were among the common genera documented in NYC, all were detected at Ͻ0.5% across the Hong Kong data set. Conversely, Enhydrobacter, a genus previously detected in high proportions in Chinese young adults (44), were among the top skin-associated genera on the MTR but not considered to be a common genus in the NYC subway. Such differences call for the additional metagenomic analysis of subway systems around the world to determine whether additional geographical and/or cultural/ethnic factors play roles in driving differences in aerosol microbiomes.…”

Altered Fecal Microbiota Composition Associated with Food Allergy in Infants

“…Eleven phyla and two candidate divisions (TM7 and OD1) were found. Three phyla (Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria) were the most predominant in infancy fecal samples and comprised Ͼ97% of all sequences, which showed a higher proportion of Proteobacteria in infants than in adults (26). In total, sequences from fecal microbiota could be classified as 270 genera, with 237 genera in healthy infants and 183 genera in infants with FA.…”

Signature of Microbial Dysbiosis in Periodontitis

“…Species belonging to the genus Rothia have been repeatedly described as being members of oral communities associated with periodontal health (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31) or at least as being more predominant in health (28). In the same way, Corynebacterium appeared to be more associated with healthy subgingival biofilm (32,33). Moreover, Rothia and Corynebacterium were among the bacteria that showed the greatest increases after periodontal treatment (34), while a study suggested that Corynebacterium might be considered a putative periodontal protector (35).…”