Doctoral Dissertation Research: The impact of microeukaryotes in human microbiome evolution

博士论文研究：微真核生物对人类微生物组进化的影响

• 批准号: 1650746
• 负责人: Cecil Lewis
• 金额: $ 2.52万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-03-01 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1650746&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; impact; microeukaryotes

This dissertation project will study the role of parasites on the evolution of the human gut microbiome (the community of micro-organisms that live in the human digestive tract), their importance in these micro-environments, and the consequences of their loss in modern industrialized populations. Recent research has shown that the gut microbiome of industrialized populations has reduced species diversity, including the loss of microbial species that can help to reduce inflammation in the body. The reduction of parasite infections in these populations may be related reduced gut microbiome diversity and the increased prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the industrialized world. This project will advance our understanding of human biology and the co-evolution of species, while supporting student training and inclusion of underserved groups in scientific research. A series of scientific computing workshops will be offered through the Center on American Indian and Alaska Native Genomic Research and made available to the general public to encourage continued scientific education. Given that parasite infection remains a major source of morbidity and mortality world-wide, procedures developed in this project for the detection and analysis of parasites will be disseminated through international partnerships in regions where these types of infections pose a major public health concern. This project investigates whether the loss of parasites in the industrialized gut can explain the loss of microbial diversity in these micro-ecosystems. Using fecal samples from five geographically and culturally variable populations including industrialized peoples in the United States, and traditional peoples in South America and Africa, this study proposes to (1) describe the impact of parasites on the human gut microbiome, and (2) document the influence of lifestyle including subsistence strategy on parasite diversity in traditional and industrialized societies. Parasite DNA sequenced from samples collected for this study will be compared to bacterial community data using a variety of statistical procedures to detect whole community as well as functional shifts that may be linked to parasite infection.

本论文项目将研究寄生虫在人类肠道微生物群（生活在人类消化道中的微生物群落）进化中的作用、它们在这些微环境中的重要性，以及它们在现代工业化中消失的后果。人口。最近的研究表明，工业化人群的肠道微生物群减少了物种多样性，包括有助于减少体内炎症的微生物物种的丧失。这些人群中寄生虫感染的减少可能与工业化国家肠道微生物多样性的减少和自身免疫性疾病患病率的增加有关。该项目将增进我们对人类生物学和物种共同进化的理解，同时支持学生培训和将服务不足的群体纳入科学研究。美洲印第安人和阿拉斯加原住民基因组研究中心将举办一系列科学计算研讨会，并向公众开放，以鼓励继续进行科学教育。鉴于寄生虫感染仍然是全世界发病率和死亡率的主要来源，本项目中开发的用于检测和分析寄生虫的程序将通过国际伙伴关系在此类感染构成重大公共卫生问题的地区传播。该项目研究工业化肠道中寄生虫的丧失是否可以解释这些微生态系统中微生物多样性的丧失。本研究使用来自五个地理和文化不同人群（包括美国工业化人群以及南美和非洲传统人群）的粪便样本，旨在（1）描述寄生虫对人类肠道微生物组的影响，以及（2）记录生活方式（包括生存策略）对传统和工业化社会中寄生虫多样性的影响。将从本研究收集的样本中测序的寄生虫 DNA 与细菌群落数据进行比较，使用各种统计程序来检测整个群落以及可能与寄生虫感染相关的功能变化。