Title

Subsistence strategies in traditional societies distinguish gut microbiomes

Authors

Alexandra J. Obregon-Tito, University of Oklahoma; Universidad Científica del Sur; City of Hope, NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center
Raul Y. Tito, University of Oklahoma; Universidad Científica del Sur
Jessica Metcalf, University of Colorado
Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, University of Oklahoma
Jose C. Clemente, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Luke K. Ursell, University of Colorado
Zhenjiang Zech Xu, University of Colorado
Will Van Treuren, University of Colorado
Rob Knight, University of California - San Diego
Patrick M. Gaffney, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Paul Spicer, University of Oklahoma
Paul Lawson, University of Oklahoma
Luis Marin-Reyes, Instituto Nacional de Salud
Omar Trujillo-Villarroel, Instituto Nacional de Salud
Morris Foster, Old Dominion University
Emilio Guija-Poma, Universidad Científica del Sur
Luzmila Troncoso-Corzo, Universidad Científica del Sur
Christina Warinner, University of Oklahoma
Andrew T. Ozga, University of OklahomaFollow
Cecil M. Lewis Jr., University of Oklahoma

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-25-2015

Publication Title

Nature Communications

Keywords

Biodiversity, Microbiome, Symbiosis, Urban ecology

ISSN

2041-1723

Volume

6

Issue/No.

6505

First Page

1

Last Page

9

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that gut microbiomes of urban-industrialized societies are different from those of traditional peoples. Here we examine the relationship between lifeways and gut microbiota through taxonomic and functional potential characterization of faecal samples from hunter-gatherer and traditional agriculturalist communities in Peru and an urban-industrialized community from the US. We find that in addition to taxonomic and metabolic differences between urban and traditional lifestyles, hunter-gatherers form a distinct sub-group among traditional peoples. As observed in previous studies, we find that Treponema are characteristic of traditional gut microbiomes. Moreover, through genome reconstruction (2.2–2.5 MB, coverage depth × 26–513) and functional potential characterization, we discover these Treponema are diverse, fall outside of pathogenic clades and are similar to Treponema succinifaciens, a known carbohydrate metabolizer in swine. Gut Treponema are found in non-human primates and all traditional peoples studied to date, suggesting they are symbionts lost in urban-industrialized societies.

Comments

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

NSUWorks Citation

Obregon-Tito, Alexandra J.; Raul Y. Tito; Jessica Metcalf; Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan; Jose C. Clemente; Luke K. Ursell; Zhenjiang Zech Xu; Will Van Treuren; Rob Knight; Patrick M. Gaffney; Paul Spicer; Paul Lawson; Luis Marin-Reyes; Omar Trujillo-Villarroel; Morris Foster; Emilio Guija-Poma; Luzmila Troncoso-Corzo; Christina Warinner; Andrew T. Ozga; and Cecil M. Lewis Jr.. 2015. "Subsistence strategies in traditional societies distinguish gut microbiomes." Nature Communications 6, (6505): 1-9. doi:10.1038/ncomms7505.

ORCID ID

0000-0003-4540-7106

ResearcherID

D-1147-2018

DOI

10.1038/ncomms7505