Unravelling the degradome in a cohort study of IBD patients compared to healthy volunteers to further our understanding of the extent to which microbial proteases may be contributing to the disease. Towards Accessing the Degradome of the Gut microbiota

IBD encompasses a spectrum of debilitating, chronically recurring diseases of which the two main pathologies are Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's diseases. The cause of the disease remains idiopathic, although there are a number of factors that have been implicated in the disease including; genetic factors, mucosal immunity, diet and lifestyle, and interactions with the gut microbiota. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is a common occurrence in those suffering with IBD although the implications of this dysbiosis remain unknown. Efforts are continuously being made to identify the molecular structures and mechanisms of bacteria that may be contributing to the disease. Microbial proteases have been proven responsible in part or even entirely for the virulence of certain microorganisms and the onset of many diseases and there is increasing evidence implicating them in the pathology of diseases of the human gut. In order to further our understanding of proteases produced by the gut microbiota (referred to as the 'degradome') and their contribution to IBD, we first conducted 16S rRNA bacterial community profiling of a cohort of IBD patients and compared them with a group of healthy volunteers to observe the dysbiosis. We also isolated the metagenomes from each individual to mine them for microbial proteases in order to determine whether microbial proteases are increased in abundance and diversity in the IBD gut metagenome as well as determining whether they have an altered functional repertoire.