The gut virome in association with the bacteriome in gastrointestinal diseases and beyond: roles, mechanisms, and clinical applications

Abstract

The gut virome, an essential component of the intestinal microbiome, constitutes ∼0.1% of the total microbial biomass but contains a far greater number of particles than bacteria, with phages making up 90%-95% of this virome. This review systematically examines the developmental patterns of the gut virome, focusing on factors influencing its composition, including diet, environment, host genetics, and immunity. Additionally, it explores the gut virome's associations with various diseases, its interactions with gut bacteria and the immune system, and its emerging clinical applications.

Keywords

gut virome / inflammatory bowel disease / fecal microbiota transplantation / colorectal cancer / probiotics / dietary intervention

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 82172323, 32100134, 823B2010), Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2024A1515010533), Guangzhou Key R&D program (Grant No. 202206010014), and a seed fund from the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Sun Yat-sen University (Grant No. 2022JBGS03).

Author contributions

Zhiyang Feng (Writing—original draft), Elke Burgermeister (Writing—review & editing), Anna Philips (Writing—review & editing), Tao Zuo (Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing—review & editing) and Weijie Wen (Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing—review & editing).

Conflict of interest

None declared. In addition, as an Editorial Board Member of Precision Clinical Medicine, the corresponding author Tao Zuo was blinded from reviewing and making decision on this manuscript.

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