Title:Genomic and Metagenomic Insights into the Distribution of
Nicotine-degrading Enzymes in Human Microbiota
Volume: 25
Issue: 3
Author(s): Ying Guan, Zhouhai Zhu, Qiyuan Peng, Meng Li, Xuan Li, Jia-Wei Yang, Yan-Hong Lu, Meng Wang and Bin-Bin Xie*
Affiliation:
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology,
Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
Keywords:
Nicotine-degrading enzymes, human microbiota, metagenomes, NicX, nicotine degradation, genome annotation.
Abstract:
Introduction: Nicotine degradation is a new strategy to block nicotine-induced pathology.
The potential of human microbiota to degrade nicotine has not been explored.
Aims: This study aimed to uncover the genomic potentials of human microbiota to degrade nicotine.
Method: To address this issue, we performed a systematic annotation of Nicotine-Degrading Enzymes
(NDEs) from genomes and metagenomes of human microbiota. A total of 26,295 genomes
and 1,596 metagenomes for human microbiota were downloaded from public databases and five
types of NDEs were annotated with a custom pipeline. We found 959 NdhB, 785 NdhL, 987
NicX, three NicA1, and three NicA2 homologs.
Results: Genomic classification revealed that six phylum-level taxa, including Proteobacteria, Firmicutes,
Firmicutes_A, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, and Chloroflexota, can produce NDEs,
with Proteobacteria encoding all five types of NDEs studied. Analysis of NicX prevalence revealed
differences among body sites. NicX homologs were found in gut and oral samples with a
high prevalence but not found in lung samples. NicX was found in samples from both smokers
and non-smokers, though the prevalence might be different.
Conclusion: This study represents the first systematic investigation of NDEs from the human microbiota,
providing new insights into the physiology and ecological functions of human microbiota
and shedding new light on the development of nicotine-degrading probiotics for the treatment
of smoking-related diseases.
