A team from the University of Barcelona determined 25 new viruses in water that infect bacteria in the human intestinal tract Now metropolitan area city and some nearby towns.
These viruses, belonging to the order Crassvirales, infect some species of the genus Bacteroides. very abundant in human intestinal microbiota. The viruses currently isolated have a completely different genome from other crAss viruses described in the scientific literature to date and have been termed crAssBcn phages.
The findings were published at: Nature CommunicationIt was conducted by a team led by Professor Maite Muniesa from the Microbiology of Health-Related Waters Research Group (MARS) of the UB Faculty of Biology.
Due to its features, new viruses considered potential indicators of fecal contamination in humans. Additionally, the group wants to focus on investigating whether the presence and abundance of rough phages (specifically rough Bcn phages) differ between healthy individuals and people affected by certain 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,” says Maite Muniesa, professor of Microbiology in the Department of Genetics, Statistics and Microbiology from UB.
“Their biological role is still unknown, but since phages are abundant enough to infect a bacterial genus (Bacteroides) that is also abundant in the human intestine, it is suspected that they may have a regulatory role in bacterial populations and have a certain effect on the human intestinal microbiota.”
Since 2014, only four groups have been able to isolate a total of seven crAssphage-like viruses.. Now, the UB team has detected 25 new phages in one go, significantly expanding the global map of this group of viruses that are highly prevalent in the world’s population.
Furthermore, although crAssBcn originates from the Barcelona region, it is widely distributed and has been detected in 51% of intestinal metagenomes worldwide.
Reference work: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40098-z
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Contact address of the environmental department:krisclimatica@prensaiberica.es
Source: Informacion
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