Exploring the gut mycobiome in ulcerative colitis patients using culturomics analysis

The human gut is colonized by diverse microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. Several studies have suggested that the gut fungal microbiome (mycobiome) impacts host immunity and the development and progression of human diseases. However, most gut microbiome studies have focused exclusively on bacteria, and the mycobiome in the organ has largely been unexplored. Here, we established a culturomics platform to isolate the fungal strains from fecal samples of a cohort of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and compared the fungal community structure with those of healthy subjects (HT). Our analysis revealed that the majority of identified fungal colonies belonged to the phylum Ascomycota followed by Basidiomycota in both HT and UC. Interestingly, we observed differences in the relative abundance and diversity of the gut mycobiome between UC patients and healthy individuals. Particularly, the fungal diversity was found to be decreased in UC patients compared to HT, suggesting a potential correlation with active inflammation. Our study emphasizes the importance of the gut mycobiota.