Project description:The role of gut microbiomes as important regulators of mammalian health is increasingly recognized, although feline and canine gut microbiomes remain poorly characterized. In this proof-of-concept study, we assessed the utility of a direct-to-consumer approach to executing pet microbiome studies. We characterized the gut microbiomes of 238 pets (46 cats and 192 dogs) by generating ~11 million merged reads that were mapped to the V4 region of 16S ribosomal RNA gene at a sequencing depth of 45,806 (±22,325) reads per sample. Analyses of these reads revealed that both feline and canine gut microbiomes are dominated by three major phyla, namely Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroides and that alpha diversity is higher in the feline gut. In addition to interspecies differences between the feline and canine gut, we also detected appreciable intraspecies bacterial variation within the canine population. While the dogs in this dataset could be assigned to three distinct clusters based on their gut microbiome, no clustering was observed within the feline population. Integration of additional data obtained from survey questionnaires revealed that geography and body weight may be associated with canine gut microbiome composition. Furthermore, we found that both the inter and intraspecies differences are more pronounced at finer taxonomic levels, indicating that strain-level investigations may be necessary in the future. This study demonstrates that the direct-to-consumer approach overcomes existing limitations in pet microbiome research, for example, it allows collection of large numbers of pet samples. The direct-to-consumer approach has proven successful in human genomics as well as human microbiomics and this study demonstrates that by building partnerships with an engaged general public this approach can also propel the field of pet microbiomics forward.
Project description:RNA was extracted from the meninges of mice from either Specific pathogen free or Germ free facilities or from the offspring of mice reconstituted with different human microbiomes.
Project description:Monocytes and granulocytes were isolated from blood of TB patients and household contacts. DNA was isolated and methylation profile was measured using Illumina HumanMethylation450.
Project description:HuMiChip2 was applied to analyze perform both strain-level identification and the functional profiling of human gut microbiomes from alcoholic cirrhosis patients and healthy individuals with alcohol abuse.
Project description:Monocytes and granulocytes were isolated from blood of TB patients and household contacts. RNA was isolated and gene expression was measured using microarrays.
Project description:Monocytes and granulocytes were isolated from blood of TB patients and household contacts. RNA was isolated and microRNA expression was measured using microarrays.
Project description:To investigate the effect of household detergents on the mouse skin barrier, we treated mouse's back skin with two household detergents (A and B) and collected the treated skin 24 hours after the application. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of mouse skin treated with detergent A, detergent B, and PBS. We performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of the skin biopsy at 24 hours after the application.
Project description:Monocytes and granulocytes were isolated from blood of TB patients and household contacts. DNA was isolated and methylation profile was measured using Illumina HumanMethylation450. House-hold contacts were matched to TB patients by gender and age. From each subject, two profiles (monocytes and granulocytes) were collected.