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Cuthbertson L, Löber U, Ish-Horowicz JS, McBrien CN, Churchward C, Parker JC, Olanipekun MT, Burke C, McGowan A, Davies GA, Lewis KE, Hopkin JM, Chung KF, O'Carroll O, Faul J, Creaser-Thomas J, Andrews M, Ghosal R, Piatek S, Willis-Owen SAG, Bartolomaeus TUP, Birkner T, Dwyer S, Kumar N, Turek EM, William Musk A, Hui J, Hunter M, James A, Dumas ME, Filippi S, Cox MJ, Lawley TD, Forslund SK, Moffatt MF, Cookson WOC. Genomic attributes of airway commensal bacteria and mucosa. Commun Biol 2024; 7:171. [PMID: 38347162 PMCID: PMC10861553 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05840-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Microbial communities at the airway mucosal barrier are conserved and highly ordered, in likelihood reflecting co-evolution with human host factors. Freed of selection to digest nutrients, the airway microbiome underpins cognate management of mucosal immunity and pathogen resistance. We show here the initial results of systematic culture and whole-genome sequencing of the thoracic airway bacteria, identifying 52 novel species amongst 126 organisms that constitute 75% of commensals typically present in heathy individuals. Clinically relevant genes encode antimicrobial synthesis, adhesion and biofilm formation, immune modulation, iron utilisation, nitrous oxide (NO) metabolism and sphingolipid signalling. Using whole-genome content we identify dysbiotic features that may influence asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We match isolate gene content to transcripts and metabolites expressed late in airway epithelial differentiation, identifying pathways to sustain host interactions with microbiota. Our results provide a systematic basis for decrypting interactions between commensals, pathogens, and mucosa in lung diseases of global significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah Cuthbertson
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Ulrike Löber
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), 13125, Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation of Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125, Berlin, Germany
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site, 10785, Berlin, Germany
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jonathan S Ish-Horowicz
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Claire N McBrien
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Colin Churchward
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Jeremy C Parker
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | | | - Conor Burke
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Connolly Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Aisling McGowan
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Connolly Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Gwyneth A Davies
- Population Data Science and Health Data Research UK BREATHE Hub, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
- College of Medicine, Institute of Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Keir E Lewis
- College of Medicine, Institute of Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
- Respiratory Medicine, Hywel Dda University Health Board, Llanelli, UK
| | - Julian M Hopkin
- College of Medicine, Institute of Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Kian Fan Chung
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Orla O'Carroll
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Connolly Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - John Faul
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Connolly Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Joy Creaser-Thomas
- College of Medicine, Institute of Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Mark Andrews
- Respiratory Medicine, Hywel Dda University Health Board, Llanelli, UK
| | - Robin Ghosal
- Respiratory Medicine, Hywel Dda University Health Board, Llanelli, UK
| | - Stefan Piatek
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | | | - Theda U P Bartolomaeus
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), 13125, Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation of Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125, Berlin, Germany
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site, 10785, Berlin, Germany
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Till Birkner
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), 13125, Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation of Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125, Berlin, Germany
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sarah Dwyer
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Nitin Kumar
- Host-Microbiota Interactions Laboratory, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Elena M Turek
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - A William Musk
- School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
- Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
- Department of Respiratory Medicine Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Jennie Hui
- School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
- Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Michael Hunter
- School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
- Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Alan James
- School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
- Department of Respiratory Medicine Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
- Department of Pulmonary Physiology and Sleep Medicine, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Marc-Emmanuel Dumas
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, London, UK
- U1283 INSERM / UMR8199 CNRS, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille University Hospital, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, University of Lille, Lille, France
- McGill Genome Centre, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Sarah Filippi
- Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Michael J Cox
- University of Birmingham College of Medical and Dental Sciences, 150183, Institute of Microbiology and Infection, Birmingham, UK
| | - Trevor D Lawley
- Host-Microbiota Interactions Laboratory, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK
| | - Sofia K Forslund
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), 13125, Berlin, Germany.
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation of Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125, Berlin, Germany.
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site, 10785, Berlin, Germany.
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
- Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Structural and Computational Biology Unit, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Miriam F Moffatt
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
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Turek EM, Cox MJ, Hunter M, Hui J, James P, Willis-Owen SAG, Cuthbertson L, James A, Musk AW, Moffatt MF, Cookson WOCM. Airway microbial communities, smoking and asthma in a general population sample. EBioMedicine 2021; 71:103538. [PMID: 34425308 PMCID: PMC8387768 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Normal airway microbial communities play a central role in respiratory health but are poorly characterized. Cigarette smoking is the dominant global environmental influence on lung function, and asthma has become the most prevalent chronic respiratory disease worldwide. Both conditions have major microbial components that are incompletely defined. METHODS We investigated airway bacterial communities in a general population sample of 529 Australian adults. Posterior oropharyngeal swabs were analyzed by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The microbiota were characterized according to their prevalence, abundance and network memberships. FINDINGS The microbiota were similar across the general population, and were strongly organized into co-abundance networks. Smoking was associated with diversity loss, negative effects on abundant taxa, profound alterations to network structure and expansion of Streptococcus spp. By contrast, the asthmatic microbiota were selectively affected by an increase in Neisseria spp. and by reduced numbers of low abundance but prevalent organisms. INTERPRETATION Our study shows that the healthy airway microbiota in this population were contained within a highly structured ecosystem, suggesting balanced relationships between the microbiome and human host factors. The marked abnormalities in smokers may contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. The narrow spectrum of abnormalities in asthmatics encourages investigation of damaging and protective effects of specific bacteria. FUNDING The study was funded by the Asmarley Trust and a Wellcome Joint Senior Investigator Award to WOCC and MFM (WT096964MA and WT097117MA). The Busselton Healthy Ageing Study is supported by the Government of Western Australia (Office of Science, Department of Health) the City of Busselton, and private donations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena M Turek
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London SW3 6LY, United Kingdom
| | - Michael J Cox
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London SW3 6LY, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Hunter
- School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Australia; Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Jennie Hui
- School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Australia; Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, Western Australia, Australia; PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Phillip James
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London SW3 6LY, United Kingdom
| | - Saffron A G Willis-Owen
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London SW3 6LY, United Kingdom
| | - Leah Cuthbertson
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London SW3 6LY, United Kingdom
| | - Alan James
- Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Pulmonary Physiology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, UWA Medical School, University of Western Australia, Australia
| | - A William Musk
- School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Australia; Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Respiratory Medicine Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, UWA Medical School, University of Western Australia, Australia
| | - Miriam F Moffatt
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London SW3 6LY, United Kingdom.
| | - William O C M Cookson
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London SW3 6LY, United Kingdom.
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