Project description:Fecal samples collected on day 5 from randomly selected colitic SD rats were analyzed for gut microbiota by sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The orally administered Dex-P-laden NPA2 coacervate (Dex-P/NPA2) significantly restores the diversity of gut microbiota compared with colitic SD rats in the Dex-P/PBS group and the untreated colitic rats (Control).
Project description:Analysis of breast cancer survivors' gut microbiota after lifestyle intervention, during the COVID-19 lockdown, by 16S sequencing of fecal samples.
Project description:This study in rats was designed to investigate whether whole rhye (WR) can influence the metabolism of n-3 and n-6 long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) and gut microbiota composition. For 12 weeks, rats were fed a diet containing either 50% WR or 50% refined rye (RR). Total bacterial DNA was extracted from fecal and cecal samples (n=5 per group). 16S PCR amplification was performed to assess the microbial diversity at the family level using the HuGChip. Amplified DNA was purified and labelled with either Cy3 or Cy5 dye and hybridized on the microarray. A 15 chip study was realized, each corresponding to hybridization with 250ng of labelled 16S rRNA gene amplicons from either mice fecal and cecal samples. Each probe (4441) was synthetized in three replicates.
Project description:Gut microbiome research is rapidly moving towards the functional characterization of the microbiota by means of shotgun meta-omics. Here, we selected a cohort of healthy subjects from an indigenous and monitored Sardinian population to analyze their gut microbiota using both shotgun metagenomics and shotgun metaproteomics. We found a considerable divergence between genetic potential and functional activity of the human healthy gut microbiota, in spite of a quite comparable taxonomic structure revealed by the two approaches. Investigation of inter-individual variability of taxonomic features revealed Bacteroides and Akkermansia as remarkably conserved and variable in abundance within the population, respectively. Firmicutes-driven butyrogenesis (mainly due to Faecalibacterium spp.) was shown to be the functional activity with the higher expression rate and the lower inter-individual variability in the study cohort, highlighting the key importance of the biosynthesis of this microbial by-product for the gut homeostasis. The taxon-specific contribution to functional activities and metabolic tasks was also examined, giving insights into the peculiar role of several gut microbiota members in carbohydrate metabolism (including polysaccharide degradation, glycan transport, glycolysis and short-chain fatty acid production). In conclusion, our results provide useful indications regarding the main functions actively exerted by the gut microbiota members of a healthy human cohort, and support metaproteomics as a valuable approach to investigate the functional role of the gut microbiota in health and disease.