Beyond bacteria: Reconstructing microorganism connections and deciphering the predicted mutualisms in mammalian gut metagenomes.

ABSTRACT: Numerous gut microbial studies have focused on bacteria. However, archaea, viruses, fungi, protists, and nematodes are also regular residents of the gut ecosystem. Little is known about the composition and potential interactions among these six kingdoms in the same samples. Here, we unraveled the complex connection among them using approximately 123 gut metagenomes from 42 mammalian species (including carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores). We observed high variation in bacterial and fungal families and relatively low variation in archaea, viruses, protists, and nematodes. We found that some fungi in the mammalian intestine might come from environmental sources (e.g., soil and dietary plants), and some might be native to the intestine (e.g., the occurrence of Neocallimastigomycetes)

SUBMITTER: Dai Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9944162 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature