@article {Stamps2020.07.29.226712, author = {Blake W. Stamps and Wanda J. Lyon and Adam P. Irvin and Nancy Kelley-Loughnane and Michael S. Goodson}, title = {A pilot study of the effect of deployment on the gut microbiome and traveler{\textquoteright}s diarrhea susceptibility}, elocation-id = {2020.07.29.226712}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.1101/2020.07.29.226712}, publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory}, abstract = {Traveler{\textquoteright}s diarrhea (TD) is a recurrent and significant issue for many travelers including the military. While many known enteric pathogens exist that are causative agents of diarrhea, our gut microbiome may also play a role in travelers{\textquoteright} diarrhea susceptibility. To this end we conducted a pilot study of the microbiome of warfighters prior to- and after deployment overseas to identify marker taxa relevant to traveler{\textquoteright}s diarrhea. This initial study utilized full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing to provide additional taxonomic resolution towards identifying predictive taxa.16S rRNA analyses of pre- and post-deployment fecal samples identified multiple marker taxa as significantly differentially abundant in subjects that reported diarrhea, including Weissella, Butyrivibrio, Corynebacterium, uncultivated Erysipelotrichaceae, Jeotgallibaca, unclassified Ktedonobacteriaceae, Leptolinea, and uncultivated Ruminiococcaceae. The ability to identify TD risk prior to travel will inform prevention and mitigation strategies to influence diarrhea susceptibility while traveling.Competing Interest StatementThe authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. BWS is an employee of UES, Inc.}, URL = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/29/2020.07.29.226712}, eprint = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/29/2020.07.29.226712.full.pdf}, journal = {bioRxiv} }