Multi-Omics Analyses Show Disease, Diet, and Transcriptome Interactions With the Virome

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Virology
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• The gut virome, comprising eukaryotic viruses and bacteriophages, influences gut microbiota and host responses.
• The virome is implicated in diseases like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), where gut bacteria are key.
• This study offers a longitudinal characterization of the gut virome in healthy individuals and IBS patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively characterize the gut virome longitudinally in healthy subjects and IBS patients.
• To investigate the temporal stability of the gut virome.
• To explore correlations between the virome, diet, bacterial composition, and host factors in IBS.

Main Methods:

• Metagenomic sequencing of DNA and RNA viruses from longitudinal stool samples.
• Enrichment of viral-like particles for enhanced viral detection.
• Analysis of viral abundance in relation to diet, bacterial composition, host genetics, and gene expression.

Main Results:

• The gut virome demonstrated temporal stability and correlated with the colonic transcriptome.
• Distinct phage populations were identified in diarrhea-predominant and constipation-predominant IBS subsets compared to controls.
• Correlations were observed between specific virome subsets, bacterial composition, and dietary patterns.

Conclusions:

• The gut virome is temporally stable but exhibits variability across IBS patient subsets.
• Diet influences the gut virome, which may impact host function through bacterial interactions or altered gene expression.
• Understanding virome dynamics is crucial for unraveling IBS pathogenesis.