The Landscape Of Type VI Secretion Across Human Gut Microbiomes Reveals Its Role In Community Composition

Abstract

While the composition of the human gut microbiome has been well defined, the forces governing its assembly are poorly understood. Recently, prominent members of this community from the order Bacteroidales were shown to possess the type VI secretion system (T6SS), which mediates contact-dependent antagonism between Gram-negative bacteria. However, the distribution of the T6SS in human gut microbiomes and its role have not yet been characterized. To address this challenge, we construct an extensive catalog of T6SS effector/immunity (E-I) genes from three genetic architectures (GA1-3) found in Bacteroidales genomes. We then use metagenomic analysis to assess the abundances of these genes across a large set of gut microbiome samples. We find that despite E-I diversity across reference strains, each individual microbiome harbors a limited set of E-I genes representing a single E-I genotype. Importantly, for GA1-2, these genotypes are not associated with a specific species, suggesting selection for compatibility. GA3, in contrast, is restricted to B. fragilis, and its low diversity reflects a single B. fragilis strain per sample. We further show that in infant microbiomes GA3 is enriched and B. fragilis strains are replaced over time, suggesting competition for dominance in developing microbiomes. Finally, we find a strong association between the presence of GA3 and increased abundance of Bacteroides, indicating that this system confers a selective advantage in vivo in Bacteroides rich ecosystems. Combined, our findings provide the first comprehensive characterization of the T6SS landscape in the human microbiome, implicating it in both intra- and inter-species interactions.