Respiratory diseases impose an immense health burden worldwide. Epidemiological studies have revealed extensive disparities in the incidence and severity of respiratory tract infections between men and women. It has been hypothesized that there might also be a nasal microbiome axis contributing to the observed sex disparities. Here, we study the nasal microbiome of healthy young adults in the largest cohort to date with 1593 individuals, using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. We compile the most comprehensive reference catalog for the nasal bacterial community containing 4197 metagenome-assembled genomes and integrate the mycobiome, to provide a valuable resource and a more holistic perspective for the understudied human nasal microbiome. We systematically evaluate sex differences and reveal extensive sex-specific features in both taxonomic and functional levels in the nasal microbiome. Through network analyses, we capture markedly higher ecological stability and antagonistic potentials in the female nasal microbiome compared to the male’s. The analysis of the keystone bacteria reveals that the sex-dependent evolutionary characteristics might have contributed to these differences. In summary, we construct the most comprehensive catalog of metagenome-assembled-genomes for the nasal bacterial community to provide a valuable resource for the understudied human nasal microbiome. On top of that, comparative analysis in relative abundance and microbial co-occurrence networks identify extensive sex differences in the respiratory tract community, which may help to further our understanding of the observed sex disparities in the respiratory diseases.

中文翻译：

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集成的大规模宏基因组组装和多王国网络分析确定了人类鼻腔微生物组中的性别差异


呼吸系统疾病在世界范围内造成了巨大的健康负担。流行病学研究表明，男性和女性在呼吸道感染的发生率和严重程度方面存在巨大差异。据推测，也可能存在鼻微生物组轴导致观察到的性别差异。在这里，我们使用鸟枪法宏基因组测序研究了迄今为止最大的队列 1593 人中健康年轻人的鼻腔微生物组。我们为鼻细菌群落编制了最全面的参考目录，其中包含 4197 个宏基因组组装的基因组，并整合了分枝组，为研究不足的人类鼻腔微生物组提供了宝贵的资源和更全面的视角。我们系统地评估了性别差异，并揭示了鼻微生物组在分类和功能水平上的广泛性别特异性特征。通过网络分析，与雄性相比，我们在女性鼻腔微生物组中捕获了明显更高的生态稳定性和拮抗潜力。对关键细菌的分析表明，性别依赖性进化特征可能是造成这些差异的原因。总之，我们为鼻细菌群落构建了最全面的宏基因组组装基因组目录，为研究不足的人类鼻腔微生物组提供了宝贵的资源。最重要的是，相对丰度和微生物共生网络的比较分析确定了呼吸道群落中广泛的性别差异，这可能有助于我们进一步了解在呼吸系统疾病中观察到的性别差异。