IHMS

International Human Microbiome Standards

 Partecipanti

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'A detailed understanding of human biology will require characterisation of the human-associated microorganisms, the human microbiome, and of the roles these microbes play in health and disease. Large projects in Europe, the United States, China and Canada target these objectives, using high throughput –omics approaches. Given the complexity of our microbial communities, composed of thousands of species and differing considerably between individuals, as well as the multitude of effects they have on our biology, none of the projects can hope to achieve their comprehensive characterisation. To progress most efficiently towards this ambitious goal it is of utmost importance that the data generated in each individual project be optimally comparable across all the current projects and those yet to come. Our proposal seeks to coordinate development of standard operating procedures and protocols, which will optimize data comparisons in the human microbiome field and thus improve the synergy between all the projects. It focuses on three key aspects of data generation: (i) human sample collection, processing and identification via the associated metadata; (ii) DNA sequence quality obtained by the new generation methods from complex microbial mixtures; (iii) analysis of DNA sequence in conjunction with the metadata. Importantly, it organises public access to the standard operating procedures and protocols and enables exchanges between the users and providers of the standards. It gathers very strong international partnership that includes leaders in the field and represents the current large projects, which span three continents, Europe, Asia and America. Furthermore, it interfaces via the International Human Microbiome Consortium with additional projects from Africa and Australia. The proposal is thus highly congruent with the focus of the call, which targets omics, standards and international context.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Characterising the interaction of bacteria with the human body should lead to a deeper understanding of human biology and improve our overall well-being.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Our bodies contain thousands of different bacterial species that cumulatively surpass in number the human cells. Their impact on physiology, immunity and nutrition is undisputed, but at the same time very complex.

The delineation of human microbial communities has been the subject of many different research studies. However, to compare data across studies and minimise variation, uniform protocols are required. The scope of the EU-funded 'International human microbiome standards' (http://www.microbiome-standards.org/ (IHMS)) initiative is to standardise the procedures in human microbiome research.

In this context, participating groups will work to compare and optimise standard procedures and protocols in collecting samples, sequencing microbial genomes and analysing data. During the first project period, they reviewed current practices of more than 20 groups involved in human intestinal metagenomics.

Regarding sample collection, partners are optimising various parameters, including time and temperature of collection, storage and shipment on sample quality. Ideally, samples collected at home should be shipped within one day and preferably under cold conditions. To prohibit bacterial growth deterioration under ambient temperature, shipping under anaerobic conditions should be the preferred method. The IHMS-proposed method of sample collection and shipment guarantees preservation of microbial species for analysis.

So far, the consortium has sequenced the microbial DNA extracted from 24 stool samples and compared the abundance of over 3 million genes. Further to analysing and compiling this data, scientists also aim to perform phylogenetic evaluation by assessing the phylogenetic composition in each sample. This would constitute an important tool towards the characterisation of microbial communities.

IHMS research will identify how different genetic backgrounds, diets and, more generally, different life styles affect normal gut microbial communities. Through the design of novel pharmaceuticals to improve endogenous microbial fitness, it will also help improve or restore our health.