Gut microbiome heritability is nearly universal but environmentally contingent

Laura Grieneisen; Mauna Dasari; Trevor J. Gould; Johannes R. Björk; Jean Christophe Grenier; Vania Yotova; David Jansen; Neil Gottel; Jacob B. Gordon; Niki H. Learn; Laurence R. Gesquiere; Tim L. Wango; Raphael S. Mututua; J. Kinyua Warutere; Long'ida Siodi; Jack A. Gilbert; Luis B. Barreiro; Susan C. Alberts; Jenny Tung; Elizabeth A. Archie; Ran Blekhman

doi:10.1126/science.aba5483

Gut microbiome heritability is nearly universal but environmentally contingent

Laura Grieneisen, Mauna Dasari, Trevor J. Gould, Johannes R. Björk, Jean Christophe Grenier, Vania Yotova, David Jansen, Neil Gottel, Jacob B. Gordon, Niki H. Learn, Laurence R. Gesquiere, Tim L. Wango, Raphael S. Mututua, J. Kinyua Warutere, Long'ida Siodi, Jack A. Gilbert, Luis B. Barreiro, Susan C. Alberts, Jenny Tung, Elizabeth A. ArchieRan Blekhman

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103 Scopus citations

Abstract

Relatives have more similar gut microbiomes than nonrelatives, but the degree to which this similarity results from shared genotypes versus shared environments has been controversial. Here, we leveraged 16,234 gut microbiome profiles, collected over 14 years from 585 wild baboons, to reveal that host genetic effects on the gut microbiome are nearly universal. Controlling for diet, age, and socioecological variation, 97% of microbiome phenotypes were significantly heritable, including several reported as heritable in humans. Heritability was typically low (mean = 0.068) but was systematically greater in the dry season, with low diet diversity, and in older hosts. We show that longitudinal profiles and large sample sizes are crucial to quantifying microbiome heritability, and indicate scope for selection on microbiome characteristics as a host phenotype.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	181-186
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	373
Issue number	6551
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba5483
State	Published - Jul 9 2021

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Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.

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Grieneisen, L., Dasari, M., Gould, T. J., Björk, J. R., Grenier, J. C., Yotova, V., Jansen, D., Gottel, N., Gordon, J. B., Learn, N. H., Gesquiere, L. R., Wango, T. L., Mututua, R. S., Warutere, J. K., Siodi, L., Gilbert, J. A., Barreiro, L. B., Alberts, S. C., Tung, J., ... Blekhman, R. (2021). Gut microbiome heritability is nearly universal but environmentally contingent. Science, 373(6551), 181-186. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba5483

Grieneisen, L, Dasari, M, Gould, TJ, Björk, JR, Grenier, JC, Yotova, V, Jansen, D, Gottel, N, Gordon, JB, Learn, NH, Gesquiere, LR, Wango, TL, Mututua, RS, Warutere, JK, Siodi, L, Gilbert, JA, Barreiro, LB, Alberts, SC, Tung, J, Archie, EA & Blekhman, R 2021, 'Gut microbiome heritability is nearly universal but environmentally contingent', Science, vol. 373, no. 6551, pp. 181-186. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba5483

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abstract = "Relatives have more similar gut microbiomes than nonrelatives, but the degree to which this similarity results from shared genotypes versus shared environments has been controversial. Here, we leveraged 16,234 gut microbiome profiles, collected over 14 years from 585 wild baboons, to reveal that host genetic effects on the gut microbiome are nearly universal. Controlling for diet, age, and socioecological variation, 97% of microbiome phenotypes were significantly heritable, including several reported as heritable in humans. Heritability was typically low (mean = 0.068) but was systematically greater in the dry season, with low diet diversity, and in older hosts. We show that longitudinal profiles and large sample sizes are crucial to quantifying microbiome heritability, and indicate scope for selection on microbiome characteristics as a host phenotype.",

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AU - Björk, Johannes R.

AU - Grenier, Jean Christophe

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AU - Jansen, David

AU - Gottel, Neil

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AU - Learn, Niki H.

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AU - Mututua, Raphael S.

AU - Warutere, J. Kinyua

AU - Siodi, Long'ida

AU - Gilbert, Jack A.

AU - Barreiro, Luis B.

AU - Alberts, Susan C.

AU - Tung, Jenny

AU - Archie, Elizabeth A.

AU - Blekhman, Ran

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Gut microbiome heritability is nearly universal but environmentally contingent

Abstract

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