Transmission of human-associated microbiota along family and social networks
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540252v1.full.pdf
Description
Submitted version
Size
1.89 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Brito, Ilana L.
Gurry, Thomas Jerome
Zhao, Shijie
Huang, Katherine
Young, Sarah K.
Shea, Terrence P.
Naisilisili, Waisea
Jenkins, Aaron P.
Jupiter, Stacy D.
Gevers, Dirk
Date Issued
March 2019
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Brito, Ilana L. "Transmission of human-associated microbiota along family and social networks." Nature Microbiology 4, 6 (March 2019): 964–971 © 2019 The Author(s)
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
The human microbiome, described as an accessory organ because of the crucial functions it provides, is composed of species that are uniquely found in humans1,2. Yet, surprisingly little is known about the impact of routine interpersonal contacts in shaping microbiome composition. In a relatively ‘closed’ cohort of 287 people from the Fiji Islands, where common barriers to bacterial transmission are absent, we examine putative bacterial transmission in individuals’ gut and oral microbiomes using strain-level data from both core single-nucleotide polymorphisms and flexible genomic regions. We find a weak signal of transmission, defined by the inferred sharing of genotypes, across many organisms that, in aggregate, reveals strong transmission patterns, most notably within households and between spouses. We were unable to determine the directionality of transmission nor whether it was direct. We further find that women harbour strains more closely related to those harboured by their familial and social contacts than men, and that transmission patterns of oral-associated and gut-associated microbiota need not be the same. Using strain-level data alone, we are able to confidently predict a subset of spouses, highlighting the role of shared susceptibilities, behaviours or social interactions that distinguish specific links in the social network.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-019-0409-6
