Jiye Cheng

Gut microbiota from twins discordant for obesity modulate metabolism in mice.

Introduction Establishing whether specific structural and functional configurations of a human gut microbiota are causally related to a given physiologic or disease phenotype is challenging. Twins discordant for obesity provide an opportunity to examine interrelations between obesity and its associated metabolic disorders, diet, and the gut microbiota. Transplanting the intact uncultured or cultured human fecal microbiota from each member of a discordant twin pair into separate groups of recipient germfree mice permits the donors’ communities to be replicated, differences between their properties to be identified, the impact of these differences on body composition and metabolic phenotypes to be discerned, and the effects of diet-by-microbiota interactions to be analyzed. In addition, cohousing coprophagic mice harboring transplanted microbiota from discordant pairs provides an opportunity to determine which bacterial taxa invade the gut communities of cage mates, how invasion correlates with host phenotypes, and how invasion and microbial niche are affected by human diets. Cohousing Ln and Ob mice prevents increased adiposity in Ob cage mates (Ob). (A) Adiposity change after 10 days of cohousing. *P < 0.05 versus Ob controls (Student’s t test). (B) Bacteroidales from Ln microbiota invade Ob microbiota. Columns show individual mice. Methods Separate groups of germfree mice were colonized with uncultured fecal microbiota from each member of four twin pairs discordant for obesity or with culture collections from an obese (Ob) or lean (Ln) co-twin. Animals were fed a mouse chow low in fat and rich in plant polysaccharides, or one of two diets reflecting the upper or lower tertiles of consumption of saturated fats and fruits and vegetables based on the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Ln or Ob mice were cohoused 5 days after colonization. Body composition changes were defined by quantitative magnetic resonance. Microbiota or microbiome structure, gene expression, and metabolism were assayed by 16S ribosomal RNA profiling, whole-community shotgun sequencing, RNA-sequencing, and mass spectrometry. Host gene expression and metabolism were also characterized. Results and Discussion The intact uncultured and culturable bacterial component of Ob co-twins’ fecal microbiota conveyed significantly greater increases in body mass and adiposity than those of Ln communities. Differences in body composition were correlated with differences in fermentation of short-chain fatty acids (increased in Ln), metabolism of branched-chain amino acids (increased in Ob), and microbial transformation of bile acid species (increased in Ln and correlated with down-regulation of host farnesoid X receptor signaling). Cohousing Ln and Ob mice prevented development of increased adiposity and body mass in Ob cage mates and transformed their microbiota’s metabolic profile to a leanlike state. Transformation correlated with invasion of members of Bacteroidales from Ln into Ob microbiota. Invasion and phenotypic rescue were diet-dependent and occurred with the diet representing the lower tertile of U.S. consumption of saturated fats, and upper tertile of fruits and vegetables, but not with the diet representing the upper tertile of saturated fats, and lower tertile of fruit and vegetable consumption. These results reveal that transmissible and modifiable interactions between diet and microbiota influence host biology. Transforming Fat to Thin How much does the microbiota influence the hosts phenotype? Ridaura et al. (1241214 ; see the Perspective by Walker and Parkhill) obtained uncultured fecal microbiota from twin pairs discordant for body mass and transplanted them into adult germ-free mice. It was discovered that adiposity is transmissible from human to mouse and that it was associated with changes in serum levels of branched-chain amino acids. Moreover, obese-phenotype mice were invaded by members of the Bacteroidales from the lean mice, but, happily, the lean animals resisted invasion by the obese microbiota. Mice carrying gut bacteria from lean humans protect their cage mates from the effects of gut bacteria from fat humans. [Also see Perspective by Walker and Parkhill] The role of specific gut microbes in shaping body composition remains unclear. We transplanted fecal microbiota from adult female twin pairs discordant for obesity into germ-free mice fed low-fat mouse chow, as well as diets representing different levels of saturated fat and fruit and vegetable consumption typical of the U.S. diet. Increased total body and fat mass, as well as obesity-associated metabolic phenotypes, were transmissible with uncultured fecal communities and with their corresponding fecal bacterial culture collections. Cohousing mice harboring an obese twin’s microbiota (Ob) with mice containing the lean co-twin’s microbiota (Ln) prevented the development of increased body mass and obesity-associated metabolic phenotypes in Ob cage mates. Rescue correlated with invasion of specific members of Bacteroidetes from the Ln microbiota into Ob microbiota and was diet-dependent. These findings reveal transmissible, rapid, and modifiable effects of diet-by-microbiota interactions.

Gut Microbiomes of Malawian Twin Pairs Discordant for Kwashiorkor

Not Just Wasting Malnutrition is well known in Malawi, including a severe form—kwashiorkor—in which children do not simply waste away, they also suffer edema, liver damage, skin ulceration, and anorexia. Smith et al. (p. 548; see the Perspective by Relman) investigated the microbiota of pairs of twins in Malawian villages and found notable differences in the composition of the gut microbiota in children with kwashiorkor. In these children, a bacterial species related to Desulfovibrio, which has been associated with bowel disease and inflammation, was noticeable. When the fecal flora from either the healthy or the sick twin was transplanted into groups of germ-free mice, the mice that received the kwashiorkor sample started to lose weight, like their human counterpart. Genomic analyses of gut microbiota explain responses to dietary therapy for severe malnutrition. [Also see Perspective by Relman] Kwashiorkor, an enigmatic form of severe acute malnutrition, is the consequence of inadequate nutrient intake plus additional environmental insults. To investigate the role of the gut microbiome, we studied 317 Malawian twin pairs during the first 3 years of life. During this time, half of the twin pairs remained well nourished, whereas 43% became discordant, and 7% manifested concordance for acute malnutrition. Both children in twin pairs discordant for kwashiorkor were treated with a peanut-based, ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). Time-series metagenomic studies revealed that RUTF produced a transient maturation of metabolic functions in kwashiorkor gut microbiomes that regressed when administration of RUTF was stopped. Previously frozen fecal communities from several discordant pairs were each transplanted into gnotobiotic mice. The combination of Malawian diet and kwashiorkor microbiome produced marked weight loss in recipient mice, accompanied by perturbations in amino acid, carbohydrate, and intermediary metabolism that were only transiently ameliorated with RUTF. These findings implicate the gut microbiome as a causal factor in kwashiorkor.

Identifying Gut Microbe–Host Phenotype Relationships Using Combinatorial Communities in Gnotobiotic Mice

Identifying human gut bacterial strains that affect three diverse biological responses should facilitate discovery of next-generation probiotics and realization of the microbiota’s diagnostic potential. Mining the Microbiota for Next Generation Probiotics Our human guts are populated by a mind-boggling number of microbial cells. Identifying members of this vast microbial community that produce specific effects on physiology, metabolism, or immunity is extremely challenging, given the large number of combinations of organisms that could tested. Now, Faith et al. have developed a way to address this challenge. They transplanted intact uncultured microbiota from different human donors into germ-free mice to identify features (phenotypes) of the donor that are transmissible to recipient animals. They then ascertained the ability of the culturable component of a microbiota to transmit these phenotypes. The culture collection was randomly divided into subsets of different sizes, and each subset was introduced into a sterile mouse. By assaying subsets with overlapping bacterial strains, the effect of each strain could be assayed in the context of different community memberships and sizes. Follow-up colonizations with single strains of interest were used to validate those whose presence or absence best explained a phenotype. Screening 94 strain combinations from a single adult’s microbiota revealed strains that modulated the number of regulatory T cells in the colon’s immune system, adiposity, and several facets of metabolism. This approach should facilitate mechanistic studies of how bacterial strains influence health and the discovery of therapeutic probiotics. Identifying a scalable, unbiased method for discovering which members of the human gut microbiota influence specific physiologic, metabolic, and immunologic phenotypes remains a challenge. We describe a method in which a clonally arrayed collection of cultured, sequenced bacteria was generated from one of several human fecal microbiota samples found to transmit a particular phenotype to recipient germ-free mice. Ninety-four bacterial consortia of diverse size, randomly drawn from the culture collection, were introduced into germ-free animals. We identified an unanticipated range of bacterial strains that promoted accumulation of colonic regulatory T cells (Tregs) and expansion of Nrp1lo/− peripheral Tregs, as well as strains that modulated mouse adiposity and cecal metabolite concentrations, using feature selection algorithms and follow-up monocolonizations. This combinatorial approach enables a systems-level understanding of microbial contributions to human biology.

Sialylated Milk Oligosaccharides Promote Microbiota-Dependent Growth in Models of Infant Undernutrition

Identifying interventions that more effectively promote healthy growth of children with undernutrition is a pressing global health goal. Analysis of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) from 6-month-postpartum mothers in two Malawian birth cohorts revealed that sialylated HMOs are significantly less abundant in those with severely stunted infants. To explore this association, we colonized young germ-free mice with a consortium of bacterial strains cultured from the fecal microbiota of a 6-month-old stunted Malawian infant and fed recipient animals a prototypic Malawian diet with or without purified sialylated bovine milk oligosaccharides (S-BMO). S-BMO produced a microbiota-dependent augmentation of lean body mass gain, changed bone morphology, and altered liver, muscle, and brain metabolism in ways indicative of a greater ability to utilize nutrients for anabolism. These effects were also documented in gnotobiotic piglets using the same consortium and Malawian diet. These preclinical models indicate a causal, microbiota-dependent relationship between S-BMO and growth promotion.

Metabolic niche of a prominent sulfate-reducing human gut bacterium

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) colonize the guts of ∼50% of humans. We used genome-wide transposon mutagenesis and insertion-site sequencing, RNA-Seq, plus mass spectrometry to characterize genetic and environmental factors that impact the niche of Desulfovibrio piger, the most common SRB in a surveyed cohort of healthy US adults. Gnotobiotic mice were colonized with an assemblage of sequenced human gut bacterial species with or without D. piger and fed diets with different levels and types of carbohydrates and sulfur sources. Diet was a major determinant of functions expressed by this artificial nine-member community and of the genes that impact D. piger fitness; the latter includes high- and low-affinity systems for using ammonia, a limiting resource for D. piger in mice consuming a polysaccharide-rich diet. Although genes involved in hydrogen consumption and sulfate reduction are necessary for its colonization, varying dietary-free sulfate levels did not significantly alter levels of D. piger, which can obtain sulfate from the host in part via cross-feeding mediated by Bacteroides-encoded sulfatases. Chondroitin sulfate, a common dietary supplement, increased D. piger and H2S levels without compromising gut barrier integrity. A chondroitin sulfate-supplemented diet together with D. piger impacted the assemblage’s substrate utilization preferences, allowing consumption of more reduced carbon sources and increasing the abundance of the H2-producing Actinobacterium, Collinsella aerofaciens. Our findings provide genetic and metabolic details of how this H2-consuming SRB shapes the responses of a microbiota to diet ingredients and a framework for examining how individuals lacking D. piger differ from those who harbor it.

Genetic determinants of in vivo fitness and diet responsiveness in multiple human gut Bacteroides

Diet shapes host and gut microbe fitness The human gut microbiota is hugely diverse, with many strain variants having a multiplicity of effects on host metabolism and immunity. To define some of these functions, Wu et al. made libraries of mutants of Bacteroides species known for their capacity to process otherwise intractable dietary fiber. Germ-free mice colonized with defined gut microbiota communities containing the mutants were fed specific diets containing different ratios of fat and fiber. Genes, strains, and species were identified that were associated with specific metabolic pathways. The community responses to dietary shifts were manipulated in an attempt to characterize species for their probiotic or therapeutic potential. Science, this issue 10.1126/science.aac5992> To design probiotics, gut microbe fitness determinants and niches were characterized and responses to dietary changes monitored. INTRODUCTION Relatively little is known about the genetic factors that allow members of the human gut microbiota to occupy their niches. Identification of these factors is important for understanding mechanisms that determine microbiota assembly and perturbation through diet, disease, and clinical treatments. Discovery of these factors should enable new approaches for intervening therapeutically in the functional properties of the human gut microbiota. We present a generalizable approach by which to identify fitness determinants for multiple bacterial strains simultaneously in a model human gut microbiota, obtain gene-level characterization of responses to diet change, and design prebiotics for precision microbiota manipulation. RATIONALE We developed a method—multi-taxon INsertion Sequencing (INSeq)—for monitoring the behavior of tens of thousands of transposon (Tn) mutants of multiple bacterial species and strains simultaneously in the guts of gnotobiotic mice. We focused on four prominent human gut Bacteroides: one strain of B. cellulosilyticus, one strain of B. ovatus, and two strains of B. thetaiotaomicron. INSeq libraries, each composed of 87,000 to 167,000 isogenic Tn mutant strains, were produced (single site of Tn insertion per mutant strain; a total of 11 to 26 Tn insertions represented in the library per gene; and 82 to 92% genes covered per genome). The four mutant libraries were introduced into germ-free mice together with 11 wild-type species commonly present in the human gut microbiota. Animals were given a diet rich in fat and simple sugars but devoid of complex polysaccharides [diet 1 (D1)] or one rich in plant polysaccharides and low in fat (D2), either monotonously or in the sequence D1-D2-D1 or D2-D1-D2. Wecalculated a “fitness index” for each gene on the basis of the relative abundance of its INSeq reads in the fecal or cecal microbiota compared with the input library. In vivo INSeq data were correlated with INSeq data generated from organisms cultured under defined in vitro conditions; microbial RNA-seq profiling of the community’s metatranscriptome; and reconstructions of metabolic pathways, regulons, and polysaccharide utilization loci. On the basis of the results, we designed a prebiotic intervention. RESULTS Multi-taxon INSeq (i) provided a digital readout of the remarkably consistent pattern of community assembly; (ii) identified shared as well as species-, strain-, and diet-specific fitness determinants associated with a variety of metabolic or nutrient processing pathways, including those involving amino acids, carbohydrates, and vitamins/cofactors; (iii) enabled quantitative gene-level measurement of the resilience of the responses to diet perturbations; (iv) revealed that arabinoxylan, the most common hemicellulose in cereals, could be used to deliberately manipulate the representation of Bacteroides cellulosilyticus; and (v) defined the niche adjustments of this and the other Bacteroides to arabinoxylan supplementation of the high-fat diet. CONCLUSION In principle, the approach described can be used to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of how host genotype, diet, physiologic, metabolic, and immune factors, as well as pathologic states, affect niches in gut and nongut habitats, as well as to facilitate development of therapeutic interventions for modifying community structure/function. Identification of a prebiotic that increases the abundance of B. cellulosilyticus. (Left) The four mutant libraries were pooled together with 11 other phylogenetically diverse wild-type strains, and this consortium, representing an artificial human gut microbiota, was introduced into germ-free mice. Community assembly, the effects of diet, and recovery from diet oscillations were characterized at a community, strain, and gene level in these gnotobiotic animals by use of multi-taxon INSeq. (Middle) Multi-taxon INSeq revealed an arabinoxylan utilization locus in B. cellulosilyticus that is critical for the organism’s fitness in the high-fat/simple-sugar diet (D1) context but not in the D2 context. A homologous arabinoxylan utilization locus in B. ovatus was not a fitness determinant with either diet. (Right) Consistent with this finding, supplementation of drinking water with arabinoxylan in mice consuming D1 selectively increased the abundance of B. cellulosilyticus but not B. ovatus. Libraries of tens of thousands of transposon mutants generated from each of four human gut Bacteroides strains, two representing the same species, were introduced simultaneously into gnotobiotic mice together with 11 other wild-type strains to generate a 15-member artificial human gut microbiota. Mice received one of two distinct diets monotonously, or both in different ordered sequences. Quantifying the abundance of mutants in different diet contexts allowed gene-level characterization of fitness determinants, niche, stability, and resilience and yielded a prebiotic (arabinoxylan) that allowed targeted manipulation of the community. The approach described is generalizable and should be useful for defining mechanisms critical for sustaining and/or approaches for deliberately reconfiguring the highly adaptive and durable relationship between the human gut microbiota and host in ways that promote wellness.

The effects of micronutrient deficiencies on bacterial species from the human gut microbiota

Mechanistic studies reveal pronounced effects of vitamin A deficiency on bacterial members of a defined human gut microbiota. A gut bacterial view of micronutrient deficiency Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) are a global health challenge. In a new study, Hibberd et al. compare the effects of acute dietary deficiency of vitamin A, folate, iron, or zinc in gnotobiotic mice harboring bacterial strains common in the human gut. Vitamin A had the greatest effect on the structure of the bacterial community and gene expression. Bacteroides vulgatus, a bacterial species positively correlated with host growth in gnotobiotic mouse models of postnatal human microbiota development, had the biggest response to vitamin A deficiency, exhibiting an increase in its abundance. Genetic, multi-omic, and pharmacologic analyses indicated that retinol treatment affected B. vulgatus fitness through the activity of the bacterial AcrAB-TolC efflux system. These results suggest that micronutrient imbalances should be considered from the perspective of both the human host and the gut microbiota they possess. Vitamin and mineral (micronutrient) deficiencies afflict 2 billion people. Although the impact of these imbalances on host biology has been studied extensively, much less is known about their effects on the gut microbiota of developing or adult humans. Therefore, we established a community of cultured, sequenced human gut–derived bacterial species in gnotobiotic mice and fed the animals a defined micronutrient-sufficient diet, followed by a derivative diet devoid of vitamin A, folate, iron, or zinc, followed by return to the sufficient diet. Acute vitamin A deficiency had the largest effect on bacterial community structure and metatranscriptome, with Bacteroides vulgatus, a prominent responder, increasing its abundance in the absence of vitamin A. Applying retinol selection to a library of 30,300 B. vulgatus transposon mutants revealed that disruption of acrR abrogated retinol sensitivity. Genetic complementation studies, microbial RNA sequencing, and transcription factor–binding assays disclosed that AcrR is a repressor of an adjacent AcrAB-TolC efflux system. Retinol efflux measurements in wild-type and acrR-mutant strains plus treatment with a pharmacologic inhibitor of the efflux system revealed that AcrAB-TolC is a determinant of retinol and bile acid sensitivity in B. vulgatus. Acute vitamin A deficiency was associated with altered bile acid metabolism in vivo, raising the possibility that retinol, bile acid metabolites, and AcrAB-TolC interact to influence the fitness of B. vulgatus and perhaps other microbiota members. This type of preclinical model can help to develop mechanistic insights about the effects of, and more effective treatment strategies for micronutrient deficiencies.

Quantitative assessment of the impact of the gut microbiota on lysine ε-acetylation of host proteins using gnotobiotic mice

The gut microbiota influences numerous aspects of human biology. One facet that has not been thoroughly explored is its impact on the host proteome. We hypothesized that the microbiota may produce certain of its effects through covalent modification of host proteins. We focused on protein lysine ε-acetylation because of its recently discovered roles in regulation of cell metabolism, and the potential for products of microbial fermentation to interact with the lysine acetylation machinery of host cells. Germ-free mice, fed a 15N-labeled diet for two generations, were colonized as adults with a microbiota harvested from conventionally raised mouse donors. Using high-resolution mass spectrometry, we quantified 3,891 liver and proximal colonic proteins, 558 of which contained 1,602 sites of lysine acetylation, 43% not previously described. Multiple proteins from multiple subcellular compartments underwent microbiota-associated increases in their levels of lysine acetylation at one or more residues, in one or both tissues. Acetylated proteins were enriched in functions related to energy production, respiration, and primary metabolism. A number of the acetylation events affect lysine residues at or near the active sites of enzymes, whereas others occur at locations that may affect other facets of protein function. One of these modifications, affecting Lys292 in mouse α-1-antitrypsin, was detected in the corresponding lysine of the human serum protein. Methods described in this report can be applied to other co- or posttranslational modifications, and add quantitation of protein expression and covalent modification to the arsenal of techniques for characterizing the dynamic, important interactions between gut symbionts and their hosts.

Effects of a gut pathobiont in a gnotobiotic mouse model of childhood undernutrition

Pathobiont-associated cachexia in a gnotobiotic model of childhood undernutrition is determined by strain-level interactions within the gut microbiota. Neighbors matter A big unanswered question is what determines the effects of enteropathogen burden in children who are undernourished or at risk for undernutrition. In a new study, Wagner and colleagues introduce collections of sequenced gut bacterial strains cultured from healthy or underweight Bangladeshi children into germfree mice fed diets resembling those consumed by the children. The gut bacterial strains were transplanted with or without nontoxigenic or enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis strains. Addition of enterotoxigenic B. fragilis induced cachexia in the transplanted mice, and altered gene expression and metabolic activity of the transplanted bacterial strains. These effects were mitigated by cocolonization with nontoxigenic B. fragilis, illustrating the influence of intra- and interspecies interactions in determining the impact of an enteropathogen on its host. To model how interactions among enteropathogens and gut microbial community members contribute to undernutrition, we colonized gnotobiotic mice fed representative Bangladeshi diets with sequenced bacterial strains cultured from the fecal microbiota of two 24-month-old Bangladeshi children: one healthy and the other underweight. The undernourished donor’s bacterial collection contained an enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis strain (ETBF), whereas the healthy donor’s bacterial collection contained two nontoxigenic strains of B. fragilis (NTBF). Analyses of mice harboring either the unmanipulated culture collections or systematically manipulated versions revealed that ETBF was causally related to weight loss in the context of its native community but not when introduced into the healthy donor’s community. This phenotype was transmissible from the dams to their offspring and was associated with derangements in host energy metabolism manifested by impaired tricarboxylic acid cycle activity and decreased acyl–coenzyme A utilization. NTBF reduced ETBF’s expression of its enterotoxin and mitigated the effects of ETBF on the transcriptomes of other healthy donor community members. These results illustrate how intraspecific (ETBF-NTBF) and interspecific interactions influence the effects of harboring B. fragilis.