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Updated: Aug 28, 2025
06:23
Applying Advanced In Vitro Culturing Technology to Study the Human Gut Microbiota
Published on: February 15, 2019
14.3K
Codiversification of gut microbiota with humans
Taichi A Suzuki1, J Liam Fitzstevens1, Victor T Schmidt1
1Department of Microbiome Science, Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|September 15, 2022
Summary
Human gut microbes share core species globally, but specific strains show population differences. A study of 1225 individuals found evidence of shared evolutionary history (codiversification) between humans and their gut microbes, impacting disease.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Human Genetics
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Human gut microbiomes contain core microbial species globally.
- However, specific microbial strains exhibit population-specific characteristics.
- The evolutionary origins of these strain-specific differences are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether population-specific gut microbial strains in humans arise from codiversification with their hosts.
- To explore the evolutionary adaptations of microbial species that show strong codiversification.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of paired gut metagenomes and human genomes from 1225 individuals across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
- Inclusion of mother-child pairs to assess transmission and co-evolutionary patterns.
- Comparative genomic analysis to identify traits associated with host dependency.
Main Results:
- Evidence of parallel evolutionary histories between humans and their gut microbes was observed across different countries and within families.
- Microbial species with the strongest codiversification showed independent evolution of host-dependent traits.
- These traits included reduced genome size and increased sensitivity to oxygen and temperature.
Conclusions:
- The findings support the concept of codiversification between human populations and their gut microbiota.
- Population-specific microbial strains may have evolved under host dependency.
- Understanding these co-evolved microbial strains is crucial for investigating microbiome-mediated disease phenotypes.
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