Genotypic Diversity Among Human Akkermansia Isolates

In this study, we isolated and characterized new A. muciniphila strains from a cohort of children and adolescents undergoing treatment for obesity. Based on genomic and phenotypic analysis of these strains we find several phylogroup specific phenotypes that may impact the colonization of the GI or modulate host functions such as oxygen tolerance, adherence to epithelial cells, and iron and sulfur metabolism. In antibiotic treated mice, phylogroups AmIV and AmII outcompeted AmI strains. In children and adolescents, we observed high variance in A. muciniphila abundance and evidence for single phylogroup dominance, with phylogroup switching occurring in a small subset of patients. Overall, these results highlight that the ecological principles determining which A. muciniphila phylogroup predominates in humans are complex.