The archaeome in gastrointestinal disorders - AGAD

Archaea are special microorganisms which were discovered about 40 years ago and are in many ways different to bacteria. Initially they were considered extremophilic oddities but nowadays we understand that they are organisms of universal environmental importance. Interestingly, archaea also comprise a substantial part of the human microbiome. Due to methodological issues, archaea are difficult to detect in human samples, so that they are often ignored in human microbiome studies. In the last years, we have advanced a panel of methodologies to study archaea in human microbiomes and discovered considerable amounts of archaea on human skin, nose and certain areas of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The highest percentage of archaeal signatures in the GIT was found in stool samples of persons exhaling elevated volumes of methane, in appendix biopsies and meconium/stool samples from pre-term born infants. In our study, we aim to look specifically into the above-mentioned GIT-associated issues to analyze the role, diversity and impact of archaea therein. We will use a variety of cultivation-based, molecular and next-generation-based methods to address the following goals: i) Determine archaeal abundance and diversity in GIT health and disease, ii) analyze archaeal interaction with bacteria, fungi and the human host and its (clinical) characteristics, iii) assess archaeal genetic and functional profiles, iv) increase the number of cultivated, human-associated archaea for detailed characterization. With all the proposed steps herein, we are entering new fields in the area of microbiome research and retrieve information on a largely neglected component of the human microbiome. This project will be performed by Christine Moissl-Eichinger and her team, as well as collaborators from the Medical University of Graz, Germany and France.

Archaea are special microorganisms which were discovered about 40 years ago and are in many ways different to bacteria. Initially they were considered extremophilic oddities but nowadays we understand that they are organisms of universal environmental importance. Interestingly, archaea also comprise a substantial part of the human microbiome. Due to methodological issues, archaea are difficult to detect in human samples, so that they are often ignored in human microbiome studies. In the last years, we have advanced a panel of methodologies to study archaea in human microbiomes and discovered considerable amounts of archaea on human skin, nose and certain areas of the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The highest percentage of archaeal signatures in the GIT was found in stool samples of persons exhaling elevated volumes of methane. Our studies have allowed us to understand the great diversity of gastrointestinal archaea, in particular, more than 1000 different genomes have been identified. We have established a pipeline to culture these archaea in our laboratory, where they are now being studied in detail and made available to all interested researchers. We have found that people who carry high numbers of archaea are more likely to lead healthier lives, and their microbiome is more efficient at breaking down dietary fiber into healthy short- chain fatty acids. Archaea were well detected even in samples from preterm-born babies, already a few days after birth. Overall, with this project, we have established a broad network with researchers around the world and gained visibility, produced new data sets and cultures that are being published to enable broader research in this new area of research. We have entered new fields in the field of microbiome research and gained information about a largely neglected component of the human microbiome. This project was carried out by Christine Moissl-Eichinger and her team, as well as collaborators from the Medical University of Graz, as well as instutions in Germany and France, and the results have been published in high- impact journals such as Nature Microbiology, Nature Communications and others.