Summary
Human-associated bacteria play an important role in our health. However, to fully understand them, it is necessary to examine each individual bacterium in detail, which has been difficult with current technology.
Associate Professor Masahito Hosokawa of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Waseda University and a research group from bitBiome, a Waseda University startup, took on this challenge using innovative single-cell genome analysis technology and conducted the world's largest-scale individual genome analysis of 30,000 oral and intestinal bacteria.
The bbsag20 dataset we constructed revealed the genomes and genes of hundreds of bacterial species that had been overlooked by conventional methods. It also revealed the presence of antibiotic resistance genes and their "carriers" at the individual bacterial level, making it possible to investigate in detail the exchange of genes between bacteria.
This result may contribute to the development of personalized medicine targeting resident bacteria and new measures to combat antibiotic resistance.
The results of this research have been published in a press release by Waseda University.
A Single Amplified Genome Catalog Reveals the Dynamics of Mobilome and Resistome in the Human Microbiome Tetsuro Kawano-Sugaya, Koji Arikawa, Tatsuya Saeki, Taruho Endoh, Kazuma Kamata, Ayumi Matsuhashi and Masahito Hosokawa, Microbiome, https://doi.org/10.1186 /s40168‑024‑01903‑z
