TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring differences in the human gut microbiome between Han Chinese and non-Chinese populations
AU - Wang, Jingjing
AU - Zhang, Zhenmiao
AU - Chen, Yang
AU - Zhou, Xi
AU - Xiang, Jiaxin
AU - Yang, Chao
AU - Rodionov, Dmitry A.
AU - Osterman, Andrei L.
AU - Qiu, Qinwei
AU - Deng, Yusheng
AU - Liu, Yanmin
AU - Wang, Chengrui
AU - Shang, Xiaoxiao
AU - Huang, Li
AU - Sun, Chen
AU - Guo, Jianwen
AU - Yang, Zhimin
AU - Zhai, Lixiang
AU - Bian, Zhaoxiang
AU - Lyu, Aiping
AU - Han, Lijuan
AU - Jia, Wei
AU - Fang, Xiaodong
AU - Zhang, Lu
N1 - The design of the study and the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data were supported by the Young Collaborative Research grant (No. C2004-23Y, No. C2005-24Y), HMRF grant (No. 11221026), HKBU RCMS (RCMS/24-25/03), the State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine (No. SZ2024KF22), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82004234), Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2020B1111100005).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026.
PY - 2026/1/17
Y1 - 2026/1/17
N2 - Background: The human gut microbiota exhibits significant diversity across populations, influenced by factors such as geography, diet, and lifestyle, particularly between the Han Chinese and non-Chinese populations. While previous studies have predominantly focused on the taxonomic abundance of the gut microbiome, the impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in driving population-specific differences remains largely underexplored.Results: In this study, we systematically investigated gut microbial differences between the Han Chinese and non-Chinese populations using the Human Gut Microbiome Reference Genome Catalog (HGMRGC). We observed geography was the primary driver of microbial variation of abundance and SNPs. We identified 689 population-specific genome clusters from the Collinsella genus with functional differences in carbohydrate utilization and 108 species exhibiting distinct prevalence related to vitamin biosynthesis, antibiotic resistance, and carbohydrate metabolism. Beta diversity analysis highlighted significant inter-population differences in both microbial abundance and SNPs, while alpha diversity analysis revealed that non-Chinese populations exhibited higher diversity in microbial abundance, and Han Chinese populations displayed greater diversity in SNPs.Conclusions: This study offers a comprehensive analysis of gut microbial differences between Han Chinese and non-Chinese populations, highlighting the profound influence of population-specific traits on microbial diversity and function. We also provide a comprehensive human gut microbial reference genome catalog, with a particular focus on the Han Chinese population, laying a foundation for future research on gut microbiota genomic variations.
AB - Background: The human gut microbiota exhibits significant diversity across populations, influenced by factors such as geography, diet, and lifestyle, particularly between the Han Chinese and non-Chinese populations. While previous studies have predominantly focused on the taxonomic abundance of the gut microbiome, the impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in driving population-specific differences remains largely underexplored.Results: In this study, we systematically investigated gut microbial differences between the Han Chinese and non-Chinese populations using the Human Gut Microbiome Reference Genome Catalog (HGMRGC). We observed geography was the primary driver of microbial variation of abundance and SNPs. We identified 689 population-specific genome clusters from the Collinsella genus with functional differences in carbohydrate utilization and 108 species exhibiting distinct prevalence related to vitamin biosynthesis, antibiotic resistance, and carbohydrate metabolism. Beta diversity analysis highlighted significant inter-population differences in both microbial abundance and SNPs, while alpha diversity analysis revealed that non-Chinese populations exhibited higher diversity in microbial abundance, and Han Chinese populations displayed greater diversity in SNPs.Conclusions: This study offers a comprehensive analysis of gut microbial differences between Han Chinese and non-Chinese populations, highlighting the profound influence of population-specific traits on microbial diversity and function. We also provide a comprehensive human gut microbial reference genome catalog, with a particular focus on the Han Chinese population, laying a foundation for future research on gut microbiota genomic variations.
KW - Human gut microbiome
KW - Microbial reference genomes
KW - Population differences
KW - Single nucleotide polymorphisms
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105029745133
UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13059-026-03932-3#Abs1
U2 - 10.1186/s13059-026-03932-3
DO - 10.1186/s13059-026-03932-3
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 41545888
AN - SCOPUS:105029745133
SN - 1474-7596
VL - 27
JO - Genome Biology
JF - Genome Biology
IS - 1
M1 - 34
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being