基於微生物種群生物學定義的反向生態學方法
作者:
小柯機器人發布時間:2019/8/9 15:04:49
美國麻省理工學院Martin F. Polz團隊的一項最新研究,提出了一種基於微生物種群生物學定義的反向生態學方法。這一研究成果於2019年8月9日發表在國際頂尖學術期刊《細胞》上。
該團隊介紹了一種以最近基因流為度量的方法,當應用於共生微生物時,它可以從近親中識別出由強基因流不連續作用分離出來的同源基因和生態單元。開發出可以識別不同生態單元下的基因組區域來指示不同的進化方向,並將序列與環境變化或寄主相關進行關聯分析。利用這種反向生態學的方法,課題組人員發現人類的共生細菌瘤胃球菌會分類成明顯的種群,這些種群與健康和疾病有著不同的關聯。以通過最近基因流動來定義種群的這種方式,將有助於利用為動植物開發的生態和進化理論來分析細菌和古細菌基因組,從而探討不同生物體內共有的規律。
據介紹,在微生物學中,界定具有生態意義的不同種群,對於確定微生物在環境和宿主相關微生物群系中的作用非常重要。
附:英文原文
Title: A Reverse Ecology Approach Based on a Biological Definition of Microbial Populations
Author: Philip Arevalo, David VanInsberghe, Joseph Elsherbini, Jeff Gore, Martin F. Polz
Issue&Volume: Volume 178 Issue 4
Abstract: Delineating ecologically meaningful populations among microbes is important for identifying their roles in environmental and host-associated microbiomes. Here, we introduce a metric of recent gene flow, which when applied to co-existing microbes, identifies congruent genetic and ecological units separated by strong gene flow discontinuities from their next of kin. We then develop a pipeline to identify genome regions within these units that show differential adaptation and allow mapping of populations onto environmental variables or host associations. Using this reverse ecology approach, we show that the human commensal bacterium Ruminococcus gnavus breaks up into sharply delineated populations that show different associations with health and disease. Defining populations by recent gene flow in this way will facilitate the analysis of bacterial and archaeal genomes using ecological and evolutionary theory developed for plants and animals, thus allowing for testing unifying principles across all biology.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.06.033
Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(19)30736-6
Cell:《細胞》,創刊於1974年。隸屬於細胞出版社,最新IF:36.216