Microbiome new study: Human ancestral co-evolution

 A new microbiome study of interest.

 

The project concerns the evolutionary roots of human ancestral ethnic group global regionalizations, as involving skin niche microbial communities.

 

In the study, the researchers address humans as “meta-organism” entities—i.e., entangled conglomerates of microbe genomes plus Homo sapiens genomes that have co-evolved through symbiotic mutualism.

 

Here is the abstract:

 

The human armpit microbiome is metabolically entangled with skin cell physiology. This “metaorganism” symbiotic mutualism results in sweat either with or without odor (osmidrosis), depending on host ABCC11 gene haplotypes. Apocrine metabolism produces odorless S-glutathione conjugate that is transferred by ABCC11 transporters into secretory vesicles, deglutamylated to S-Cys-Gly 3M3SH thiol, and exuded to skin surface. An anthropogenic clade of skin bacteria then takes up the thiol and bioconverts it to malodorous 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3M3SH). We hypothesized a familial meta-organism association of human ABCC11 gene non-synonymous SNP rs17822931 interplaying with skin microbiome 3M3SH biosynthesis. Subjects were genotyped for ABCC11 SNPs, and their haplotypes were correlated with axilla microbiome DNA sequencing profiles and predicted metagenome functions. A multigeneration family pedigree revealed a Mendelian autosomal recessive pattern: the C allele of ABCC11 correlated with bacterial Cys-S-conjugate β-lyase (PatB) gene known for Staphylococcus hominis biosynthesis of 3M3SH from human precursor; PatB was rescinded in hosts with homozygous TT alleles encoding ABCC11 loss-of-function mutation. We posit that a C alleleencoding functional ABCC11 is key to delivering host conjugate precursors that shape heritable skinniche conditions favorable to harboring Staphylococcus having genomics of odor thiol production. This provides existential insights into human evolution and global regional population ancestries.

 

The paper is:

 

Stevens, B.R., Roesch, L.F.W.  Interplay of human ABCC11 transporter gene variants with axillary skin microbiome functional genomics. Nature Sci Rep 14, 28037 (2024)

 

Publisher’s link:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78711-w .

 

Figure 6 in the paper provides a handy overview lay summary.

 

The study asks the existential question: who is the evolutionary driver that steered modern humans into becoming such a meta-organism—was it people or microbes?  How has survival advantage steered the ancient human origins of geographic regional clustering of ancestral ethnic groups with signature microbiomes?  

 

The data center focuses on the key role of a microbe unique to humans, Staphylococcus hominis, and its engineering of “selfish gene” propagation opportunities by way of steering social interactions and communicable contacts among it’s human hosts whom are relegated as mere Trojan horse delivery vessels and incubators subserving their microbial companions. 

 

Within an extended family tree, this bacterial species is either inherited or not inherited by individuals, as governed by SNP variants of the human ABCC11 gene responsible for body odor vs. no odor binary pheromone communication.

 

Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)

Interplay of human ABCC11 transporter gene variants with axillary skin microbiome functional genomics by Tim Sandle on Scribd