Gut virome profile in healthy Saudi children

BACKGROUND: The role of viruses is well known in health and disease. The aim of this report was to describe the profile of viruses in the gut of healthy Saudi children. METHODS: In 20 randomly selected school age children from Riyadh, stool samples were collected in cryovials and stored at −80° C. At the time of analysis, the samples were sent by express mail in a temperature-controlled container to the laboratory in the USA, Viral DNA was isolated and shotgun metagenomic sequencing was performed. The abundance of each organism was expressed as an average relative percentage across the viral phylogenetic tree from phyla to species. RESULTS: The median age of the children was 11.3 (range 6.8–15.4) years, and 35% were males. Caudovirales were the most abundant bacteriophage order (77%) and Siphoviridae, Myoviridae, and Podoviridae families predominated, accounting for 41%, 25%, and 11%, respectively. Among the viral bacteriophage species, the most abundant were the Enterobacteria phages. CONCLUSION: The profile and abundance of the gut virome in healthy Saudi children reveal important differences from the literature. Further studies from different populations with larger sample sizes are needed to understand the role of gut viruses in the pathogenesis of disease in general and in the response to fecal microbiota therapy in particular.