Metagenomics revolutionized the understanding of the relations among the human microbiome, health and diseases, but generated a countless number of sequences that have not been assigned to a known microorganism 1 . The pure culture of prokaryotes, neglected in recent decades, remains essential to elucidating the role of these organisms 2 . We recently introduced microbial culturomics, a culturing approach that uses multiple culture conditions and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight and 16S rRNA for identification 2 . Here, we have selected the best culture conditions to increase the number of studied samples and have applied new protocols (fresh-sample inoculation; detection of microcolonies and specific cultures of Proteobacteria and microaerophilic and halophilic prokaryotes) to address the weaknesses of the previous studies 3-5 . We identified 1,057 prokaryotic species, thereby adding 531 species to the human gut repertoire: 146 bacteria known in humans but not in the gut, 187 bacteria and 1 archaea not previously isolated in humans, and 197 potentially new species. Genome sequencing was performed on the new species. By comparing the results of the metagenomic and culturomic analyses, we show that the use of culturomics allows the culture of organisms corresponding to sequences previously not assigned. Altogether, culturomics doubles the number of species isolated at least once from the human gut.
The PsA-TT vaccine elicited a stronger response to group A antibody than the PsACWY vaccine. (Funded by the Meningitis Vaccine Project through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Controlled-Trials.com numbers, ISRCTN78147026 and ISRCTN87739946.).
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is associated with inadequate diet, low levels of plasma antioxidants and gut microbiota alterations. The link between gut redox and microbial alterations, however, remains unexplored. By sequencing the gut microbiomes of 79 children of varying nutritional status from three centers in Senegal and Niger, we found a dramatic depletion of obligate anaerobes in malnutrition. This was confirmed in an individual patient data meta-analysis including 107 cases and 77 controls from 5 different African and Asian countries. Specifically, several species of the Bacteroidaceae, Eubacteriaceae, Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococceae families were consistently depleted while Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were consistently enriched. Further analyses on our samples revealed increased fecal redox potential, decreased total bacterial number and dramatic Methanobrevibacter smithii depletion. Indeed, M. smithii was detected in more than half of the controls but in none of the cases. No causality was demonstrated but, based on our results, we propose a unifying theory linking microbiota specificity, lacking anaerobes and archaea, to low antioxidant nutrients, and lower food conversion.
BackgroundUrinary schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease that exists in all regions of Senegal. It is a major public health issue in this country. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence and intensity of this parasitosis in 12 villages of Niakhar (Fatick, Senegal).MethodsA total of 210 schoolchildren, aged 7 to 15 years, were enrolled in this study, and urine samples were examined for Schistosoma haematobium eggs using a standard urine filtration technique.ResultsOf these children, 121 (57.6%) were found to be infected with a mean geometric count of 185 eggs per 10 ml of urine. The disease was present in all surveyed villages, and the prevalence ranged from 14.3% to 92.8%. The prevalence of infection was significantly correlated with increasing age and was higher in boys. Infection intensity was significantly higher in boys but did not significantly differ with age. Significant relationships between i) water contact or access to running water and ii) the prevalence or intensity of urinary schistosomiasis were also noted.ConclusionsThe district of Niakhar is endemic for urinary schistosomiasis, with a high intensity of infection. A control program to decrease the prevalence and intensity should be implemented in this area to improve community health.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.