The heme catabolite bilirubin has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-mutagenic effects and its relation to colorectal cancer (CRC) risk is currently under evaluation. Although the main metabolic steps of bilirubin metabolism, including the formation of stercobilin and urobilin, take place in the human gastrointestinal tract, potential interactions with the human gut microbiota are unexplored. This study investigated, whether gut microbiota composition is altered in Gilbert's Syndrome (GS), a mild form of chronically elevated serum unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) compared to matched controls. Potential differences in the incidence of CRC-associated bacterial species in GS were also assessed. To this end, a secondary investigation of the BILIHEALTH study was performed, assessing 45 adults with elevated UCB levels (GS) against 45 age- and sex-matched controls (C). Fecal microbiota analysis was performed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. No association between mildly increased UCB and the composition of the gut microbiota in this healthy cohort was found. The alpha and beta diversity did not differ between C and GS and both groups showed a typical representation of the known dominant phyla. Furthermore, no difference in abundance of and , which have been associated with the mucosa of CRC patients were observed between the groups. A sequence related to the strain YIT 12065 was identified with a weak association value of 0.521 as an indicator species in the GS group. This strain has been previously associated with a lower body mass index, which is typical for the GS phenotype. Overall, sex was the only driver for an identifiable difference in the study groups, as demonstrated by a greater bacterial diversity in women. After adjusting for confounding factors and multiple testing, we can conclude that the GS phenotype does not affect the composition of the human gut microbiota in this generally healthy study group.

Premature infants are at substantial risk for suffering from perinatal white matter injury. Though the gut microbiota has been implicated in early-life development, a detailed understanding of the gut-microbiota-immune-brain axis in premature neonates is lacking. Here, we profiled the gut microbiota, immunological, and neurophysiological development of 60 extremely premature infants, which received standard hospital care including antibiotics and probiotics. We found that maturation of electrocortical activity is suppressed in infants with severe brain damage. This is accompanied by elevated γδ T cell levels and increased T cell secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor and reduced secretion of neuroprotectants. Notably, Klebsiella overgrowth in the gut is highly predictive for brain damage and is associated with a pro-inflammatory immunological tone. These results suggest that aberrant development of the gut-microbiota-immune-brain axis may drive or exacerbate brain injury in extremely premature neonates and represents a promising target for novel intervention strategies.

In the ocean, most hosts acquire their symbionts from the environment. Due to the immense spatial scales involved, our understanding of the biogeography of hosts and symbionts in marine systems is patchy, although this knowledge is essential for understanding fundamental aspects of symbiosis such as host-symbiont specificity and evolution. Lucinidae is the most species-rich and widely distributed family of marine bivalves hosting autotrophic bacterial endosymbionts. Previous molecular surveys identified location-specific symbiont types that "promiscuously" form associations with multiple divergent cooccurring host species. This flexibility of host-microbe pairings is thought to underpin their global success, as it allows hosts to form associations with locally adapted symbionts. We used metagenomics to investigate the biodiversity, functional variability, and genetic exchange among the endosymbionts of 12 lucinid host species from across the globe. We report a cosmopolitan symbiont species, Thiodiazotropha taylori, associated with multiple lucinid host species. T. taylori has achieved more success at dispersal and establishing symbioses with lucinids than any other symbiont described thus far. This discovery challenges our understanding of symbiont dispersal and location-specific colonization and suggests both symbiont and host flexibility underpin the ecological and evolutionary success of the lucinid symbiosis.