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Gut virome profiling identifies a widespread bacteriophage family associated with metabolic syndrome

Gut virome profiling identifies a widespread bacteriophage family associated with metabolic syndrome
Gut virome profiling identifies a widespread bacteriophage family associated with metabolic syndrome

There is significant interest in altering the course of cardiometabolic disease development via gut microbiomes. Nevertheless, the highly abundant phage members of the complex gut ecosystem -which impact gut bacteria- remain understudied. Here, we show gut virome changes associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS), a highly prevalent clinical condition preceding cardiometabolic disease, in 196 participants by combined sequencing of bulk whole genome and virus like particle communities. MetS gut viromes exhibit decreased richness and diversity. They are enriched in phages infecting Streptococcaceae and Bacteroidaceae and depleted in those infecting Bifidobacteriaceae. Differential abundance analysis identifies eighteen viral clusters (VCs) as significantly associated with either MetS or healthy viromes. Among these are a MetS-associated Roseburia VC that is related to healthy control-associated Faecalibacterium and Oscillibacter VCs. Further analysis of these VCs revealed the Candidatus Heliusviridae, a highly widespread gut phage lineage found in 90+% of participants. The identification of the temperate Ca. Heliusviridae provides a starting point to studies of phage effects on gut bacteria and the role that this plays in MetS.

2041-1723
de Jonge, Patrick A.
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Wortelboer, Koen
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Scheithauer, Torsten P.M.
36cde217-54f2-4654-b351-022d9bde0e72
van den Born, Bert Jan H.
acde8a0b-7df5-4313-b11f-6aae3e27edc7
Zwinderman, Aeilko H.
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Nobrega, Franklin L.
6532795d-88a4-4f05-9b26-6af5b8f21a0d
Dutilh, Bas E.
c570f46e-01cb-4c4a-a9bb-3d39b0815106
Nieuwdorp, Max
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Herrema, Hilde
4036f30a-ce69-41c4-9fe2-e9282dae8aa7
de Jonge, Patrick A.
688a0bcd-2b5d-45e3-835c-a06e15484ed6
Wortelboer, Koen
9d9c81a1-c9a4-4097-8253-43bee93eec3f
Scheithauer, Torsten P.M.
36cde217-54f2-4654-b351-022d9bde0e72
van den Born, Bert Jan H.
acde8a0b-7df5-4313-b11f-6aae3e27edc7
Zwinderman, Aeilko H.
b0f2cb39-6012-4838-b350-7b359c7ec007
Nobrega, Franklin L.
6532795d-88a4-4f05-9b26-6af5b8f21a0d
Dutilh, Bas E.
c570f46e-01cb-4c4a-a9bb-3d39b0815106
Nieuwdorp, Max
f70a1465-3cc1-4d49-a9d2-6bc45d782091
Herrema, Hilde
4036f30a-ce69-41c4-9fe2-e9282dae8aa7

de Jonge, Patrick A., Wortelboer, Koen, Scheithauer, Torsten P.M., van den Born, Bert Jan H., Zwinderman, Aeilko H., Nobrega, Franklin L., Dutilh, Bas E., Nieuwdorp, Max and Herrema, Hilde (2022) Gut virome profiling identifies a widespread bacteriophage family associated with metabolic syndrome. Nature Communications, 13 (1), [3594]. (doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31390-5).

Record type: Article

Abstract

There is significant interest in altering the course of cardiometabolic disease development via gut microbiomes. Nevertheless, the highly abundant phage members of the complex gut ecosystem -which impact gut bacteria- remain understudied. Here, we show gut virome changes associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS), a highly prevalent clinical condition preceding cardiometabolic disease, in 196 participants by combined sequencing of bulk whole genome and virus like particle communities. MetS gut viromes exhibit decreased richness and diversity. They are enriched in phages infecting Streptococcaceae and Bacteroidaceae and depleted in those infecting Bifidobacteriaceae. Differential abundance analysis identifies eighteen viral clusters (VCs) as significantly associated with either MetS or healthy viromes. Among these are a MetS-associated Roseburia VC that is related to healthy control-associated Faecalibacterium and Oscillibacter VCs. Further analysis of these VCs revealed the Candidatus Heliusviridae, a highly widespread gut phage lineage found in 90+% of participants. The identification of the temperate Ca. Heliusviridae provides a starting point to studies of phage effects on gut bacteria and the role that this plays in MetS.

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s41467-022-31390-5 - Version of Record
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e-pub ahead of print date: 23 June 2022
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 511639
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/511639
ISSN: 2041-1723
PURE UUID: 74162eb7-5a95-42be-9c8f-cb7ccfcae72e
ORCID for Franklin L. Nobrega: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8238-1083

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Date deposited: 26 May 2026 16:42
Last modified: 27 May 2026 02:00

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Contributors

Author: Patrick A. de Jonge
Author: Koen Wortelboer
Author: Torsten P.M. Scheithauer
Author: Bert Jan H. van den Born
Author: Aeilko H. Zwinderman
Author: Bas E. Dutilh
Author: Max Nieuwdorp
Author: Hilde Herrema

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