Community characteristics of the gut microbiomes of competitive cyclists
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Changes in diet and exercise can alter the gut microbiome of humans and mice; however, few studies to date have assessed the microbiomes of highly fit athletes. In this pilot study, we used metagenomic whole genome shotgun (mWGS) and metatranscriptomic (RNA-Seq) sequencing to show what organisms are both present and active in the gut microbiomes of both professional and amateur level competitive cyclists and to determine if any significant differences exist between these two groups. RESULTS: Using mWGS sequencing data, we showed that the gut microbiomes of 33 cyclists split into three taxonomic clusters, characterized by either high Prevotella, high Bacteroides or a mix of many genera including Bacteroides, Prevotella, Eubacterium, Ruminococcus, and Akkermansia. While no significant correlations could be found between taxonomic cluster and being either a professional or amateur level cyclist, high abundance of the genus Prevotella (≥2.5%) was significantly correlated with time reported exercising during an average week. Increased abundance of Prevotella was correlated with a number of amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, including branched chain amino acid metabolism. Further analysis of the metatranscriptome revealed significant taxonomic differences when compared to the metagenome. There was increased abundance of Methanobrevibacter smithii transcripts in a number of professional cyclists in comparison to amateur cyclists and this archaeon had upregulation of genes involved in the production of methane. Furthermore, when methane metabolism was upregulated, there was similar upregulation of energy and carbohydrate metabolism pathways. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide a framework for common constituents of the gut community in individuals who follow an exercise-rich lifestyle. These data also suggest how certain organisms such as M. smithii may beneficially influence the metabolic efficiency of the gut community in professional cyclists due to synergistic metabolic cross-feeding events.
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Athletes have varying gut microbiota compositions that appear to reflect the activity level of the host in comparison to sedentary people, with the differences linked primarily to the volume of exercise and amount of protein consumption.
“Athletes have varying gut microbiota compositions that appear to reflect the activity level of the host in comparison to sedentary people, with the differences linked primarily to the volume of exercise and amount of protein consumption.”
From International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics (2019) · cites this paper as [17]
Current research reports a higher abundance of health-promoting bacterial species and increased microbial diversity in athletes.
“Current research reports a higher abundance of health-promoting bacterial species and increased microbial diversity in athletes [13, 18, 19].”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
No significant correlations were evident between taxonomic clusters and professional or amateur cycling status.
“Using metagenomic whole genome shotgun sequencing, no significant correlations were evident between the taxonomic clusters in professional or amateur cycling status.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
There was increased abundance of Methanobrevibacter smithii transcripts in a number of professional cyclists in comparison to amateur cyclists.
“Using metatranscriptomic sequencing, there was increased abundance of Methanobrevibacter smithii transcripts in a number of the professional cyclists in comparison to amateur cyclists.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
Akkermansia was present in 30 out of 33 cyclists, with seven cyclists having relative abundances greater than 2%.
“In addition, Akkermansia was present in 30 out of 33 cyclists, with seven cyclists having relative abundances > 2% of this microbe in their metagenomic community.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
The amount of exercise (time reported exercising during the average week) was correlated positively with a greater abundance of the genus Prevotella (≥2.5%).
“However, the amount of exercise (time reported exercising during the average week) was correlated positively with a greater abundance of the genus Prevotella (≥2.5%).”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
The microbiota has an indirect influence on various indices of exercise performance, recovery, and patterns of illness, such as signaling through myokines and other cytokines, modulating activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and affecting performance-associated metabolic pathways.
“The microbiota has an indirect influence on various indices of exercise performance, recovery, and patterns of illness, such as signaling through myokines and other cytokines, modulating activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, and affecting performance-associated metabolic pathways [13, 16–18].”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
Increased abundance of Prevotella was positively correlated with several amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, including branched-chain amino acid metabolism.
“Increased abundance of Prevotella, common in non-Western populations and associated with plant/fiber rich diets, was further positively correlated with several amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, including branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
Results from Clarke et al. and Petersen et al. suggest A. muciniphilia may be more present in athletes than non-athletes.
“While evidence is currently limited, results from Clarke et al. [19] and Petersen et al. [18] suggest A. muciniphilia may be more present in athletes than non-athletes.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
In cyclists consuming high-energy, high-carbohydrate diets, abundances of health-associated bacteria (including Prevotella and Akkermansia) were high and less characteristic of Western-associated microbiota.
“in cyclists consuming high-energy, high-carbohydrate diets, abundances of health associated bacteria were high (including Prevotella and Akkermansia) and less characteristic of Western-associated microbiota [18].”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
In cyclists, increased abundance of Prevotella positively correlated with a number of amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, including BCAA metabolism.
“Investigating the gut microbiota of cyclists, Petersen et al. [18] reported an increased abundance of Prevotella which positively correlated with a number of amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, including BCAA metabolism.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
In professional cyclists, M. smithii transcript abundance was increased, as reported by Petersen et al. using RNA sequencing.
“Petersen et al. [18] reported increased abundance of M. smithii transcripts in professional cyclists using RNA sequencing.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [18]
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References 58 · Cited by 377
- Authors
- Petersen, L. M., Bautista, E. J., Nguyen, H., Hanson, B. M., Chen, L., Lek, S. H., Sodergren, E., & Weinstock, G. M.
- Affiliations
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (US)
- Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria – AGROSAVIA (CO)
- Corresponding author
- Petersen, Lauren M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Microbiome
- Published
- 2017-08-10
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 98-98
- ISSN
- 2049-2618 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5553673
- OpenAlex
- W2742604496
- Cited by
- 377
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 57 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 8.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Microbiome (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- The Mouseion at the JAXlibrary (Jackson Laboratory) (submittedVersion)
- Greater South Information System
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (1U54 HG004968, 1U54 DE023789)
- Jackson Laboratory (Internal Funds)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Keywords
- gut microbiota, competitive cyclists, professional vs amateur athletes, Prevotella, Bacteroides, Methanobrevibacter smithii, methane metabolism, branched-chain amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, physical activity, metatranscriptomics, metagenomics
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adult, Bacteria, Bacteroides, Bicycling, Diet, Feces, Female, Humans, Life Style, Male, Methane, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Exercise, Prevotella, Gene Expression Profiling, Carbohydrate Metabolism, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Metagenome, Metagenomics, Athletes, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
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