Phylogeny and disease associations of a widespread and ancient intestinal bacteriophage lineage.

ABSTRACT: Viruses are core components of the human microbiome, impacting health through interactions with gut bacteria and the immune system. Most human microbiome viruses are bacteriophages, which exclusively infect bacteria. Until recently, most gut virome studies focused on low taxonomic resolution (e.g., viral operational taxonomic units), hampering population-level analyses. We previously identified an expansive and widespread bacteriophage lineage in inhabitants of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Here, we study their biodiversity and evolution in various human populations. Based on a phylogeny using sequences from six viral genome databases, we propose the Candidatus order Heliusvirales. We identify heliusviruses in 82% of 5441 individuals across 39 studies, and in nine metagenomes from humans tha

SUBMITTER: de Jonge PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11283538 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature