Interconnection of microbiomes between the swine farm environment and visiting students. Interconnection of microbiomes between the swine farm environment and visiting students

Microbial transmission/exchange between humans and environments is a public health priority. However, the developmental dynamics of microbial communities is poorly understood. Here we report the extensive interconnection of microbiomes (and resistomes) between the swine farm environment and visiting veterinary students. Metagenomic sequencing indicated that environmental exposure shapes the human gut microbiome, with significant reducing of microbial diversity, enrichment of potentially pathogenic taxa, and overrepresenting of antibiotic resistance genes during the students’ stay in swine farm. Comparative genomics revealed that the human and the working environment share the almost-identical bacterial genome and similar genetic contexts of antibiotic resistance genes. Dynamic Bayesian network modeling predicted that the alteration of human gut microbiota can be partially relieved within six months. Therefore, we conclude that environmental conversion shapes the human gut microbiota as well as antibiotic resistome.