We have a dataset consisting of feces samples from five different host populations of Tanzania. These include two different chimpanzee populations from different locations in Tanzania and three human populations: schoolchildren, adults from villages, and Hadza hunter gatherers. We are investigating differences found in the gut microbiomes between these populations, mainly related to metabolic pathways.
The part of the work that was presented Monday was focused on the investigation of Metagenome-Assembled Genomes (MAGs). We have identified around 16,000 different bacteria in the samples by binning of the sequenced DNA reads into MAGs. These bacteria originate from 1,625 different species. From these species, we initially looked at number of species and diversity within the different host populations. We have also looked at differences between the host population groups on phylum, genus, species, and even strain level, and found that gut microbiomes vary between host groups at all these levels. In addition to this, it looks like these differences can be linked to some metabolic pathways.
Marie Louise Jespersen's presentation