LoVEphage A New Gut Virus Is On The Horizon
by Naba Batool
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These bacteria play a major role in defining the overall health and thus have been the main focus of research for several years. But we lack information on gut viruses.
Gut virobiota is a class of digestive viruses that are majorly present in the digestive tract of humans. The bacteria that are present in the gut are majorly known as bacteriophages. This is because these bacteria need a bacterial host so that they can reproduce. The authors of this study said that
“It is therefore important to shed more light on the virobiota, and their collective genomes referred to as the virome, as this will pave the way to unraveling the complex interactions within the gut microbiota and their effect on the human host,”.
A study identifies a previously undescribed highly prevalent phage (#LOVEphage) that lives in the human gut that may have an influence on human health & diseasehttps://t.co/5KeYIsHRw1 pic.twitter.com/5D6IYGIUVl
— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) October 24, 2021
It is not an everyday task to study all the gut phages as they are multiple and diverse. Furthermore, the individuality of these gut viruses is influenced by origin, diet, and the status of health.
DEVoC is the largest human gut virome catalog that has been developed from consistently pressed fecal samples. This study compared the data with 91 healthy gut viromes.
Although most of the phages were unique from individual to individual. 39 phages were inhabitants in more than 10 healthy participants. Out of these 39 phages, 3 are the most common ones that are directly associated with the age factors.
When the data was cross-referenced with the global catalogue, crAss-like phage and LoVEphage were highly prevalent with 20.6% and 14.4%
“Our finding of the widespread distribution of this novel phage raises interesting questions with respect to [phages’] role in the human gut microbiota and potential implications in human health and disease,”
Although the study is highly promising, it is still in the infancy stage and needs more dedicated hours and meticulous study to reach somewhere!
