Succession of the Gut Microbiome in the Tibetan Population of Minjiang River Basin

Abstract

Background: Tibetans are one of the oldest ethnic groups in China and South Asia. Tibetan has a unique lifestyle and a long history, which leads to the particularity of their gut microflora in composition and function. Different from the Tibetan population on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Tibetans in Minjiang River Basin have gradually increased their migration to Chengdu Plain in recent years. Based on the analysis of 1059 Tibetans in the Minjiang River Basin at an altitude of 500-4001m, we found that the dominant phylum of Tibetan population is Bacteroidea and Firmicum, and the main genera are Prevotella and Bacteroides. These findings reflect the characteristics of Tibetan population. Results: In order to further study the factors affecting gut microbial composition of Tibetan population, 115 total parameters of 7 categories were evaluated. The results showed that altitude was the most important factor affecting the variation of microbial community in Tibetan population, and the change of altitude promoted the succession of gut microbial community. In the process of migration from high altitude to plain, the intestinal microbial composition of late immigrants was similar to that of plateau aborigines, while that of early immigrants was similar to that of plain aborigines. Migration to Tibet is related to the loss of indigenous gut microbial community species. In addition, from low altitude to high altitude, the similarity of microbial community with high altitude population increased with the reproduction of offspring after marriage. And the change of these flora will affect the metabolism, disease and cell function of Tibetan population. The other two sets (AGP and Z208) of altitude data also show the impact of altitude on the microbial community. Conclusions: This is the first large-scale study on the influencing factors of gut microflora in Tibetan population. Our study confirmed that altitude change is the most important factor affecting the distribution of Tibetan population flora, and provided abundant and unique data to explore the interaction of impact parameter-gut microbiome-host function and disease.