UK Adult Twins Gut Microbiome Study, Cross-Sectional
250 fecal samples from adult and elderly twins in the UK (TwinsUK registry), mostly healthy controls with some reporting neurological/psychiatric conditions or allergy/atopy; cross-sectional design examining genetic and environmental influences on the gut microbiome. machine-written summary
250 samples · 250 runs · GB · Adult · 2016 · 7.12 Gbp / sample
Checked this project's papers and archive records yourself? Mark it human-verified.
what each source gave
| ✓ Sequence archive | 1,000 sample values (collection date, country, latitude, longitude) |
| ✓ Abstract / description | 250 sample values (subject id) |
| ○ Full text | read; no usable statement or table · PMC6361464 |
| – Supplementary tables | no supplementary tables available (or none open access) |
| ✓ External resources | 1,473 sample values (age, antibiotic exposure, bmi, health condition, health condition detail, sex) · from curatedMetagenomicData 3 (cMD 3) |
| – User contribution | nothing uploaded yet |
| – Human verified | not yet checked by a person · I checked this project — verify it |
twins — not resolved
250 adult TwinsUK twins; twin-pair ids and zygosity not in the archive (paper not open access).
Genera, mean relative abundance over 224 profiled gut samples of this project (Sandpiper SingleM profiles, GTDB R232; low-depth and non-metagenome profiles left out).
| field | samples | coverage | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| age_category | 250 | 100% | ||||
| country | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| health_condition | 237 | 95% | 237 | |||
| subject_id | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| age_at_collection_days | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| antibiotic_exposure | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| collection_date | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| latitude | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| longitude | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| sex | 250 | 100% | 250 | |||
| bmi | 249 | 100% | 249 | |||
| health_condition_detail | 237 | 95% | 237 |
- Evolutionary dynamics of bacteria in the gut microbiome within and across hosts. 2019 PMID 30673701 PMC6361464 unsure
- Characterizing Enterotypes in Human Metagenomics: A Viral Perspective. 2021 PMID 34659174 PMC8511818 unsure
- Machine learning framework for gut microbiome biomarkers discovery and modulation analysis in large-scale obese population. 2022 PMID 36564713 PMC9789565 unsure
- Prokaryotic and viral genomes recovered from 787 Japanese gut metagenomes revealed microbial features linked to diets, populations, and diseases. 2022 PMID 36778050 PMC9903723 unsure
- Toward an improved definition of a healthy microbiome for healthy aging. 2022 PMID 37118093 PMC10154212 unsure
5 more
- Identification of a muropeptide precursor transporter from gut microbiota and its role in preventing intestinal inflammation. 2023 PMID 38127978 PMC10756304
- Meta-analysis reveals obesity associated gut microbial alteration patterns and reproducible contributors of functional shift. 2024 PMID 38265338 PMC10810176
- Microbiota-driven antitumour immunity mediated by dendritic cell migration. 2025 PMID 40659786 PMC12390848
- Gut bacteria metabolize natural and synthetic steroid hormones via the reductive OsrABC pathway. 2025 PMID 41118772 PMC13059687
- Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes. 2026 PMID 41407853 PMC12916291
Archive description
The gut microbiota has been typically viewed as an environmental factor for human health. Twins are well suited for investigating the concordance of their gut microbiomes and decomposing genetic and environmental influences. However, existing twin studies utilizing metagenomic shotgun sequencing have included only a few samples. Here, we sequenced fecal samples from 250 adult twins in the TwinsUK registry and constructed a comprehensive gut microbial reference gene catalog. We demonstrate heritability of many microbial taxa and functional modules in the gut microbiome, including those associated with diseases. Moreover, we identified 8 million SNPs in the gut microbiome and observe a high similarity in microbiome SNPs between twins that slowly decreases after decades of living apart. The results shed new light on the genetic and environmental influences on the composition and function of the gut microbiome that could relate to risk of complex diseases.
How this project entered the registry
Classified as human gut / stool shotgun DNA metagenome of adult by deterministic_prior with confidence 0.90. Assay shotgun_dna.
- host external_curation.infant_catalog · “infant triage reason_code age_adult_only”
- body site study.title · “Impacts on the Gut Microbiome”
- body site study.description · “The gut microbiota has been”
- life stage external_curation.infant_catalog · “infant triage reason_code age_adult_only”
- life stage study.title · “Metagenomics of 250 Adult Twins Reveals Genetic”
Evidence examples (one per field × route)
| sample | field | value | route | conf. | source | quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAMEA3449148 | age_at_collection_days | 22645.5 | R2 | 0.75 | external.cmd source | age: 62; age_unit: Year; age_group: Adult |
| SAMEA3449148 | antibiotic_exposure | no | R2 | 0.75 | external.cmd source | antibiotics_current_use: No |
| SAMEA3449148 | bmi | 38.0 | R2 | 0.75 | external.cmd source | bmi: 38 |
| SAMEA3449148 | collection_date | 2010/2012 | R1 | 0.90 | biosample.attribute:collection_date | 2010/2012 |
| SAMEA3449148 | country | GB | R1 | 0.90 | sample.attr.geographic_location_country_and_or_sea | United Kingdom |
| SAMEA3449148 | health_condition | other_disease | R2 | 0.75 | external.cmd source | disease: Diabetes Mellitus |
| SAMEA3449148 | health_condition_detail | Diabetes Mellitus | R2 | 0.75 | external.cmd source | disease: Diabetes Mellitus |
| SAMEA3449148 | latitude | 51.5000 | R1 | 0.90 | biosample.attribute:geographic_location_latitude+geographic_location_longitude | 51.5 -0.12 |
| SAMEA3449148 | longitude | -0.1200 | R1 | 0.90 | biosample.attribute:geographic_location_latitude+geographic_location_longitude | 51.5 -0.12 |
| SAMEA3449148 | sex | female | R2 | 0.75 | external.cmd source | sex: Female |
| SAMEA3449148 | subject_id | SAMEA3449148 | R4 | 0.60 | design.one_sample_per_subject:description | we sequenced fecal samples from 250 adult twins in the TwinsUK registry |
Sequencing
250 runs over 250 samples · mean 7.13 Gbp per run (median 7.12 Gbp, total 1,782.94 Gbp; 250 runs with a base count) · layout PAIRED 250 · platform ILLUMINA 250 · models Illumina HiSeq 2000 (250) · 90% of runs with a Sandpiper profile · first public 2016-10-27
Authors (62)
Song L first · Zhang L · Fang X last · Liu Y first · Zhu J · Wang H · Lu W · Lee YK · Zhao J · Zhang H last · Ormaasen I first · Rudi K · Diep DB · Snipen L last · Levy S · Arp G · Zhong A · Ndjite GM · Weiss A · Braccia D · Jenkins C · Grant MR · Abeysinghe S · Yang Y · Jermain MD · Wu CH · Ma B · Chanda D first · De D last · Argentini C first · Lugli GA · Tarracchini C · Fontana F · Mancabelli L · Viappiani A · Anzalone R · Angelini L · Alessandri G · Longhi G · Bianchi MG · Taurino G · Bussolati O · Milani C · van Sinderen D · Turroni F · Ventura M last · Jacoby C first · Scorza K · Ecker L · Nol Bernardino P · Little AS · McMillin M · Ramaswamy R · Sundararajan A · Sidebottom AM · Lin H · Dufault-Thompson K · Hall B · Jiang X · Light SH last · Wolff R first · Garud NR last
Downloads
PRJEB9576.csv.gz (8.5 KB) · parquet (82.3 KB) — all 250 samples, every field with route and confidence · PRJEB9576_determinations.csv.gz (27.6 KB) — 2,723 evidence rows