Topological analysis reveals state transitions in human gut and marine bacterial communities

William K. Chang, David VanInsberghe, Libusha Kelly

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Microbiome dynamics influence the health and functioning of human physiology and the environment and are driven in part by interactions between large numbers of microbial taxa, making large-scale prediction and modeling a challenge. Here, using topological data analysis, we identify states and dynamical features relevant to macroscopic processes. We show that gut disease processes and marine geochemical events are associated with transitions between community states, defined as topological features of the data density. We find a reproducible two-state succession during recovery from cholera in the gut microbiomes of multiple patients, evidence of dynamic stability in the gut microbiome of a healthy human after experiencing diarrhea during travel, and periodic state transitions in a marine Prochlorococcus community driven by water column cycling. Our approach bridges small-scale fluctuations in microbiome composition and large-scale changes in phenotype without details of underlying mechanisms, and provides an assessment of microbiome stability and its relation to human and environmental health.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number41
Journalnpj Biofilms and Microbiomes
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Microbiology
  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

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