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   Genetics, Immunity, and the Microbiome   
      
   The makeup of an individual's microbiome correlates with genetic variation in   
   immunity-related pathways, a study shows.   
      
   By Karen Zusi | September 16, 2015   
      
    Image No 1Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (gold), which are commonly found on   
   the skin.   
   FLICKR, NIAID   
      
   A study published in Genome Biology this week (September 15) offers more   
   evidence that genetics help determine the composition of microbial communities   
   across the human body.   
      
   The body's microbial communities have been extensively cataloged, and   
   intriguing compositional differences found. To investigate the relationships   
   between these organisms and their host bodies, Ran Blekhman from the   
   University of Minnesota and his    
   colleagues used data from the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), a National   
   Institutes of Health program that aimed to map the microbial makeup of healthy   
   individuals using genome sequencing.   
      
   Genotype data for the host humans was not officially collected as such during   
   the HMP, but Blekhman's team was able to extract genetic information from   
   "human contamination" collections. All told, the team gathered genomic data   
   from 93 individuals who    
   had participated in the HMP. The researchers then tested the data against the   
   associated microbiome profiles for each individual, searching for   
   correlations. The HMP provided data associated with 15 different regions of   
   the body, in the urogenital tract,    
   airways, skin, mouth, and throat--everywhere from the tonsils to the crease   
   behind the ear.   
      
   Modeling and principal components analyses revealed that genetic variation   
   correlated with the overall structure of a person's microbiome in 10 of the 15   
   sampled body sites. The team also discovered that between individuals, genetic   
   similarity is    
   correlated with microbiome similarity. Most of the relevant genetic variation   
   in the study was associated with immunity-specific pathways, suggesting that   
   the host human's immune system helps control its microbial residents.   
      
      
   http://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/43999/genetics-immunity-   
   nd-the-microbiome   
      
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