Microbiota conservation and BMI signatures in adult monozygotic twins - PubMed (original) (raw)

Microbiota conservation and BMI signatures in adult monozygotic twins

Sebastian Tims et al. ISME J. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

The human gastrointestinal (GI) tract microbiota acts like a virtual organ and is suggested to be of great importance in human energy balance and weight control. This study included 40 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs to investigate the influence of the human genotype on GI microbiota structure as well as microbial signatures for differences in body mass index (BMI). Phylogenetic microarraying based on 16S rRNA genes demonstrated that MZ twins have more similar microbiotas compared with unrelated subjects (P<0.001), which allowed the identification of 35 genus-like microbial groups that are more conserved between MZ twins. Half of the twin pairs were selected on discordance in terms of BMI, which revealed an inverse correlation between Clostridium cluster IV diversity and BMI. Furthermore, relatives of Eubacterium ventriosum and Roseburia intestinalis were positively correlated to BMI differences, and relatives of Oscillospira guillermondii were negatively correlated to BMI differences. Lower BMI was associated with a more abundant network of primary fiber degraders, while a network of butyrate producers was more prominent in subjects with higher BMI. Combined with higher butyrate and valerate contents in the fecal matter of higher BMI subjects, the difference in microbial networks suggests a shift in fermentation patterns at the end of the colon, which could affect human energy homeostasis.

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Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

GI microbiota similarity in MZ twins. (a) Box-whisker plots of total microbiota profile similarity. Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated for random unrelated subjects and between MZ twins. Average microbiota similarity between twins concordant for BMI and twins discordant for BMI are both significantly higher than between unrelated subjects (_P_=1 e−4, _P_=1 e−7, respectively). Dot-plots are shown of the mean order-like (b) similarity and the mean genus-like (c) similarity between random-paired subjects and MZ twins. Order-like and genus-like groups that were significantly different in similarity index are presented. The similarity indices of all order-like and genus-like groups are represented in Supplementary Figures S1 and S2, respectively. Mean within-pair Spearman's correlation coefficient values (depicted with black dots) and are relative to the mean Spearman's correlation coefficient values of random unrelated subjects within this cohort (depicted with open squares), for each phylogenetic group. Order-like and genus-like groups depicted in bold have within-pair similarities that are significantly higher than the total microbiota similarity. The plot-labels describe the actual mean Spearman's correlation coefficient value (unrelated subjects/MZ twins). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals around the respective mean values. Asterisks indicate the level of significance of the corrected _P_-value: *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.

Figure 2

Figure 2

BMI phenotype influences on GI microbiota. (a) Box-whisker plots of inverse Simpson's index of diversity for Clostridium cluster IV in discordant and concordant twins. The results of each subject from the two discordant twins groups are visualized with black dots. Colored lines connect the dots of each twins pair. Gray lines indicate no change in diversity (or less than a factor of 0.1). A green line indicates that the diversity is higher in the lower BMI sibling, while a red line indicates a higher diversity in the higher BMI sibling. (b) Box-whisker plots of the relative abundances of the genus-like groups significantly differing in discordant twins: Eubacterium ventriosum et rel., Roseburia intestinalis et rel. and Oscillospira guillermondii et rel. The results of each subject from the two discordant twins groups are visualized with black dots. Colored lines connect the dots of each twins pair. Gray lines indicate no change in relative abundance (or less than a factor of 0.1). A green line indicates that the relative abundance is higher in the lower BMI sibling, while a red line indicates a higher relative abundance in the higher BMI sibling. (c) Co-occurrence networks in all subjects of the genus-like groups significantly differing in discordant twins. Eubacterium ventriosum et rel. and Roseburia intestinalis et rel. (more abundant in higher BMI siblings) appear in a network of butyrate producers, and Oscillospira guillermondii et rel. (more abundant in lower BMI siblings) appears in a network of primary fiber degraders.

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