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Elevated rates of horizontal gene transfer in the industrialized human microbiome
Name
1-s2.0-S0092867421002415-main.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
31.09 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
ebe85de15d71a1534735af2bb46d3122
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Industrialization has impacted the human gut ecosystem, resulting in altered microbiome composition and diversity. Whether bacterial genomes may also adapt to the industrialization of their host populations remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigate the extent to which the rates and targets of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) vary across thousands of bacterial strains from 15 human populations spanning a range of industrialization. We show that HGTs have accumulated in the microbiome over recent host generations and that HGT occurs at high frequency within individuals. Comparison across human populations reveals that industrialized lifestyles are associated with higher HGT rates and that the functions of HGTs are related to the level of host industrialization. Our results suggest that gut bacteria continuously acquire new functionality based on host lifestyle and that high rates of HGT may be a recent development in human history linked to industrialization.
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/J.CELL.2021.02.052
