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High-resolution bacterial 16S rRNA gene profile meta-analysis and biofilm status reveal common colorectal cancer consortia
journal contribution
posted on 2019-11-29, 00:00 authored by Julia L Drewes, James R White, Christine M Dejea, Payam Fathi, Thevambiga Iyadorai, Jamuna Vadivelu, April C Roslani, Elizabeth C Wick, Emmanuel F Mongodin, Mun Fai Loke, Kumar Thulasi, Han Ming Gan, Khean Lee Goh, Hoong Yin Chong, Sandip Kumar, Jane W Wanyiri, Cynthia L SearsColorectal cancer (CRC) remains the third most common cancer worldwide, with a growing incidence among young adults. Multiple
studies have presented associations between the gut microbiome and CRC, suggesting a link with cancer risk. Although CRC
microbiome studies continue to profile larger patient cohorts with increasingly economical and rapid DNA sequencing platforms,
few common associations with CRC have been identified, in part due to limitations in taxonomic resolution and differences in
analysis methodologies. Complementing these taxonomic studies is the newly recognized phenomenon that bacterial organization
into biofilm structures in the mucus layer of the gut is a consistent feature of right-sided (proximal), but not left-sided (distal)
colorectal cancer. In the present study, we performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and biofilm quantification in a new
cohort of patients from Malaysia, followed by a meta-analysis of eleven additional publicly available data sets on stool and tissuebased CRC microbiota using Resphera Insight, a high-resolution analytical tool for species-level characterization. Results from the
Malaysian cohort and the expanded meta-analysis confirm that CRC tissues are enriched for invasive biofilms (particularly on rightsided tumors), a symbiont with capacity for tumorigenesis (Bacteroides fragilis), and oral pathogens including Fusobacterium
nucleatum, Parvimonas micra, and Peptostreptococcus stomatis. Considered in aggregate, species from the Human Oral Microbiome
Database are highly enriched in CRC. Although no detected microbial feature was universally present, their substantial overlap and combined prevalence supports a role for the gut microbiota in a significant percentage (>80%) of CRC cases.
studies have presented associations between the gut microbiome and CRC, suggesting a link with cancer risk. Although CRC
microbiome studies continue to profile larger patient cohorts with increasingly economical and rapid DNA sequencing platforms,
few common associations with CRC have been identified, in part due to limitations in taxonomic resolution and differences in
analysis methodologies. Complementing these taxonomic studies is the newly recognized phenomenon that bacterial organization
into biofilm structures in the mucus layer of the gut is a consistent feature of right-sided (proximal), but not left-sided (distal)
colorectal cancer. In the present study, we performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and biofilm quantification in a new
cohort of patients from Malaysia, followed by a meta-analysis of eleven additional publicly available data sets on stool and tissuebased CRC microbiota using Resphera Insight, a high-resolution analytical tool for species-level characterization. Results from the
Malaysian cohort and the expanded meta-analysis confirm that CRC tissues are enriched for invasive biofilms (particularly on rightsided tumors), a symbiont with capacity for tumorigenesis (Bacteroides fragilis), and oral pathogens including Fusobacterium
nucleatum, Parvimonas micra, and Peptostreptococcus stomatis. Considered in aggregate, species from the Human Oral Microbiome
Database are highly enriched in CRC. Although no detected microbial feature was universally present, their substantial overlap and combined prevalence supports a role for the gut microbiota in a significant percentage (>80%) of CRC cases.
