2023-09-18 17:45:32
Scientists have identified 25 new viruses that infect bacteria in the human intestinal tract in wastewater from the metropolitan area of that Catalan city and some nearby municipalities. These viruses, from the CrAssvirales virus order, infect some types of bacteria (genus Bacteroides) and are very abundant in the intestinal microbiota of humans. The viruses now isolated and described, despite being of the Crass type, present a completely different genome to any other virus of this type described so far in the scientific literature. The new viruses are now called crAssBcn phages.
The discovery has been carried out by a team that includes María Dolores Ramos-Barbero from the University of Barcelona (UB) and Professor Maite Muniesa, from the Health-Related Water Microbiology Research Group (MARS) of the Faculty of UB Biology.
Due to their characteristics, the new viruses are emerging as potential indicators of fecal contamination in humans.
Furthermore, the group wants to focus on investigating whether the presence and abundance of crAss phages—specifically crAssBcn phages—is different between healthy individuals and people affected by some diseases (intestinal, metabolic or even nervous system).
“As far as we know, crAssBcn phages are very specific to the human microbiota and so far we have not found them in the microbiota of other animals,” explains Professor Muniesa. «Their biological role is still unknown, but since phages are so abundant and infect a bacterial genus (Bacteroides) also very abundant in the human intestine, it is suspected that they must have a regulatory role in bacterial populations and a certain influence on the intestinal microbiota. human.”
These viruses belong to the group called crAssphage that infect bacteria in the digestive tract of humans. These viruses could be potential indicators of fecal contamination. (Photo: UB. CC BY)
Since 2014, only four groups had been able to isolate a total of seven crAss-phage-like viruses. Now, the UB team has identified 25 new phages at once, and significantly expands the global map of this group of viruses that are highly prevalent in the world population. Furthermore, crAssBcn have a wide distribution and have already been detected in 51% of intestinal metagenomes worldwide.
The study is titled “Characterization of crAss-like phage isolates highlights Crassvirales genetic heterogeneity and worldwide distribution.” And it has been published in the academic journal Nature Communications. (Source: UB)
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