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Halophilic archaea in the human intestinal mucosa

journal contribution
posted on 2010-09-01, 00:00 authored by Andrew OxleyAndrew Oxley, M P Lanfranconi, D Würdemann, S Ott, S Schreiber, T J McGenity, K N Timmis, B Nogales
The human gastrointestinal tract microbiota, despite its key roles in health and disease, remains a diverse, variable and poorly understood entity. Current surveys reveal a multitude of undefined bacterial taxa and a low diversity of methanogenic archaea. In an analysis of the microbiota in colonic mucosal biopsies from patients with inflammatory bowel disease we found 16S rDNA sequences representing a phylogenetically rich diversity of halophilic archaea from the Halobacteriaceae (haloarchaea), including novel phylotypes. As the human colon is not considered a salty environment and haloarchaea are described as extreme halophiles, we evaluated and further discarded the possibility that these sequences originated from pre-colonoscopy saline lavage solutions. Furthermore, aerobic enrichment cultures prepared from a patient biopsy at low salinity (2.5% NaCl) yielded haloarchaeal sequence types. Microscopic observation after fluorescence in situ hybridization provided evidence of the presence of viable archaeal cells in these cultures. These results prove the survival of haloarchaea in the digestive system and suggest that they may be members of the mucosal microbiota, even if present in low numbers in comparison with methanogenic archaea. Investigation of a potential physiological basis of this association may lead to new insights into gastrointestinal health and disease. © 2010 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

History

Journal

Environmental microbiology

Volume

12

Issue

9

Pagination

2398 - 2410

Publisher

Wiley

Location

Chichester, Eng.

ISSN

1462-2912

eISSN

1462-2920

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2010, Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.