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A Distinct Contractile Injection System Found in a Majority of Adult Human Microbiomes

Maria I. Rojas, Giselle S. Cavalcanti, Katelyn McNair, Sean Benler, Amanda T. Alker, Ana G. Cobián-Güemes, Melissa Giluso, Kyle Levi, Forest Rohwer, Sinem Beyhan, Robert A. Edwards, View ORCID ProfileNicholas J. Shikuma
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/865204
Maria I. Rojas
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Giselle S. Cavalcanti
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Katelyn McNair
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
3Computational Science Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Sean Benler
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Amanda T. Alker
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Ana G. Cobián-Güemes
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Melissa Giluso
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
3Computational Science Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Kyle Levi
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
3Computational Science Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Forest Rohwer
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
3Computational Science Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Sinem Beyhan
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
4Department of Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California 92037 USA
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Robert A. Edwards
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
3Computational Science Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
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Nicholas J. Shikuma
1Viral Information Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
2Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
3Computational Science Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 USA
4Department of Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, California 92037 USA
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  • ORCID record for Nicholas J. Shikuma
  • For correspondence: nshikuma@sdsu.edu
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ABSTRACT

An imbalance of normal bacterial groups such as Bacteroidales within the human gut is correlated with diseases like obesity. A current grand challenge in the microbiome field is to identify factors produced by normal microbiome bacteria that cause these observed health and disease correlations. While identifying factors like a bacterial injection system could provide a missing explanation for why Bacteroidales correlates with host health, no such factor has been identified to date. The lack of knowledge about these factors is a significant barrier to improving therapies like fecal transplants that promote a healthy microbiome. Here we show that a previously ill-defined Contractile Injection System is carried in the gut microbiome of 99% of individuals from the United States and Europe. This type of Contractile Injection System, we name here Bacteroidales Injection System (BIS), is related to the contractile tails of bacteriophage (viruses of bacteria) and have been described to mediate interactions between bacteria and diverse eukaryotes like amoeba, insects and tubeworms. Our findings that BIS are ubiquitous within adult human microbiomes suggest that they shape host health by mediating interactions between Bacteroidales bacteria and the human host or its microbiome.

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  • ↵* co-first authors

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted December 05, 2019.
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A Distinct Contractile Injection System Found in a Majority of Adult Human Microbiomes
Maria I. Rojas, Giselle S. Cavalcanti, Katelyn McNair, Sean Benler, Amanda T. Alker, Ana G. Cobián-Güemes, Melissa Giluso, Kyle Levi, Forest Rohwer, Sinem Beyhan, Robert A. Edwards, Nicholas J. Shikuma
bioRxiv 865204; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/865204
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A Distinct Contractile Injection System Found in a Majority of Adult Human Microbiomes
Maria I. Rojas, Giselle S. Cavalcanti, Katelyn McNair, Sean Benler, Amanda T. Alker, Ana G. Cobián-Güemes, Melissa Giluso, Kyle Levi, Forest Rohwer, Sinem Beyhan, Robert A. Edwards, Nicholas J. Shikuma
bioRxiv 865204; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/865204

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