Computational Identification of Specific Genes and Those Functions on the Gut Microbiota

The gut microbiota interacts with the brain via the intestines and is related to diseases such as depression. Metagenome analysis, which measures bacterial genes, is commonly used in the analysis of bacterial flora. However, only a small portion of bacterial genes have known functions, and most have unknown functions, so the information is insufficient with existing analysis methods. Therefore, we developed an analysis method that combines “16S rRNA amplicon analysis data” and “prediction information obtained by database search” to enable the analysis of genes with unknown functions. Using this method, we were able to add information to the gene of bacteria with unknown functions and show part of the mechanism by which intestinal bacteria affect mouse diseases. We applied this method to the intestinal flora of mice that show hyperalgesia due to ultrasound irradiation. M. scheadleri was found to be increased in the ultrasound-irradiation group (USV). Adapting the analysis method to the M. scheadleri genome, we were able to predict the function of proteins specifically produced by M. scheadleri. The specifically produced protein may have the function of Peptidase M23 in addition to the function related to the membrane obtained by the usual search.