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GENETIC VARIATION

Gut microbial structural variation links to human health

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 20, pages 318–319 (2019)Cite this article

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Genomic variation in bacteria can alter phenotypes that affect their host, such as virulence and antibiotic resistance. A fuller understanding of the nature and extent of such variation could, therefore, provide insight into host pathophysiology. Now, a study in Nature demonstrates that structural variants (SVs) are highly prevalent in human gut microbiomes and finds multiple associations between microbial SVs and host disease risk factors.

Application of the algorithms to microbiome data collected from 887 healthy Israeli individuals identified 5,056 deletion SVs (genomic regions that are absent in some individuals) and 2,423 variable SVs (genomic regions that vary in copy number between individuals) in 56 bacteria. Analysis of a Dutch cohort comprising 1,020 samples revealed that similar SVs are prevalent in distinct populations; more than 70% of SVs were replicated for 75% of bacteria present in both cohorts. Correlation analyses between individuals showed that SV profiles are person-specific and, in line with the authors’ previous findings, are influenced more by shared environment than by genetic relatedness.

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References

Original article

  • Zeevi, D. et al. Structural variation in the gut microbiome associates with host health. Nature 568, 43–48 (2019)

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  1. Nature Reviews Genetics http://www.nature.com/nrg/

    Dorothy Clyde

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  1. Dorothy Clyde
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Correspondence to Dorothy Clyde.

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Clyde, D. Gut microbial structural variation links to human health. Nat Rev Genet 20, 318–319 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-019-0124-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-019-0124-4

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