Systematically investigating and identifyingbacteriocins in the human gut microbiome by Dengwei Zhang ,Yinai Zou, Yuqi Shi, Junliang Zhang, Jing Liu, Gengfan Wu, Jian Zhang, Ying Gao & Muxuan Chen, Yong-Xin Li instant download

Systematically investigating and identifyingbacteriocins in the human gut microbiome by Dengwei Zhang ,Yinai Zou, Yuqi Shi, Junliang Zhang, Jing Liu, Gengfan Wu, Jian Zhang, Ying Gao & Muxuan Chen, Yong-Xin Li instant download

SUMMARYHuman gut microbiota produces unmodified bacteriocins, natural antimicrobial peptides that protect againstpathogens and regulate host physiology. However, current bioinformatic tools limit the comprehensiveinvestigation of bacteriocins’ biosynthesis, obstructing research into their biological functions. Here, weintroduce IIBacFinder, a superior analysis pipeline for identifying unmodified class II bacteriocins. Throughlarge-scale bioinformatic analysis and experimental validation, we demonstrate their widespread distributionacross the bacterial kingdom, with most being habitat specific. Analyzing over 280,000 bacterial genomes,we reveal the diverse potential of human gut bacteria to produce these bacteriocins. Guided by meta-omicsanalysis, we synthesized 26 hypothetical bacteriocins from gut commensal species, with 16 showing antibacterial activities. Further ex vivo tests show minimal impact of narrow-spectrum bacteriocins on humanfecal microbiota. Our study highlights the huge biosynthetic potential of unmodified bacteriocins in the human gut, paving the way for understanding their biological functions and health implications.