Exploring the influence of urbanization on gut mycobiota through dietary habits in Burkina Faso

From BugSigDB
Needs review
Citation
PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.
DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.
URI Uniform resource identifier for web resources.
Authors
Renzi S., Meriggi N., Paola M.D., Bacci G., Cerasuolo B., Gori A., Casari S., Banci E., de Blasi A., Diallo S., Kabore B., Derra K., Tinto H., De Filippo C., De Mast Q., Lionetti P., Cavalieri D.
Journal
BMC microbiology
Year
2025
Keywords:
Burkina Faso, Dietary habits, Fungal diversity, Fungi, Gut mycobiota, Microbiota, Rural-to-Urban, Sub-Saharan Africa, Urbanization
BACKGROUND: The phenomenon of urbanization is associated with significant shifts in lifestyle and dietary habits, which can impact the composition of gut microbiota. While variations in gut bacterial communities between rural and urban residents are documented, changes in fungal communities (mycobiota) remain underexplored. This study investigates the impact of urbanization-related dietary shifts on the gut mycobiota in a sub-Saharan African context (Burkina Faso). We analyzed the gut mycobiota composition of individuals from households of rural and semi-urbanized areas, and that of wealthy families living in the capital city (Ouagadougou). We compared the gut mycobiota of three Burkinabè cohorts with that of a cohort of Italian families, as representative of a Western urban lifestyle. Using high-throughput sequencing, we characterized gut mycobiota composition and diversity, assessing changes in accordance with the different dietary patterns and lifestyle. RESULTS: Our findings revealed modifications in gut mycobiota composition along the rural-to-urban gradient. A significant reduction in the alpha-diversity of the gut mycobiota was observed in the cohorts residing in the urban setting compared to those living in rural and semi-urbanized areas. Members of rural households exhibited greater fungal richness and diversity compared to those in urban families, including affluent families in the capital city. Furthermore, we identified 33 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) significantly associated with the different lifestyle and dietary patterns related to the studied areas. CONCLUSION: The household-level survey of rural and urban settings in Burkina Faso highlighted the impact of urbanization-related dietary shifts on gut mycobiota diversity and composition. The observed loss of fungal diversity and the significant reduction of fungal taxa associated with a rural lifestyle are potential indicators of the shift from a rural to an urban context. In agreement with the hygiene hypothesis, these findings lay the foundation for further studies aiming at investigating the effect that these microbial losses will have on human health, similarly to those already observed for gut bacterial communities.

Experiment 1


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/09

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Subjects

Location of subjects
Burkina Faso
Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.
Homo sapiens
Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology
Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces
Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology
Lifestyle measurement Lifestyle measurement,lifestyle measurement
Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Burkina Faso Rural (BF-R)
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Burkina Faso Semi-urban (BF-SU)
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Participants living in Semi-Urban area of Burkina Faso
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
51
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group
50

Lab analysis

Sequencing type
ITS / ITS2
16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene
Not specified
Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance
Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).
relative abundances
Statistical test
Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon)
Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any)
0.05
MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?
Yes
Confounders controlled for Confounding factors that have been accounted for by stratification or model adjustment
age

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
decreased
Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa
decreased
Richness Number of species
decreased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to increase with Semi-urbanization, evidenced by their high presence in Burkina Faso Semi-Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Burkina Faso Semi-urban (BF-SU)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Aspergillus flavus
Leptobacillium leptobactrum
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures seemed to decrease with urbanization, evidenced by their low presence in Burkina Faso Semi-Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Burkina Faso Semi-urban (BF-SU)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Aspergillus penicillioides
Candida tropicalis
Cyberlindnera fabianii
Diutina mesorugosa
Epicoccum sorghinum
Kluyveromyces marxianus
Malassezia restricta
Saitozyma flava

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Experiment 2


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/09

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Participants living in Urbanized area of Burkina Faso
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group
45

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
decreased
Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa
decreased
Richness Number of species
decreased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/14

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to increase with urbanization, evidenced by their high presence in Burkina Faso Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Aspergillus flavus
Aspergillus penicillioides
Candida tropicalis
Leptobacillium leptobactrum
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to decrease with urbanization, evidenced by their low presence in Burkina Faso Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Cyberlindnera fabianii
Diutina mesorugosa
Epicoccum sorghinum
Kluyveromyces marxianus
Malassezia restricta
Saitozyma flava

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Experiment 3


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Burkina Faso Semi-Urban (BF-SU)
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Participants living in urbanized area of Burkina Faso
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
50

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
decreased
Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa
decreased
Richness Number of species
decreased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to increase with urbanization, evidenced by their high presence in Burkina Faso Urban Cohort over the Semi-Urban cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Aspergillus flavus
Aspergillus penicillioides
Candida tropicalis

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to decrease with urbanization, evidenced by their low presence in Burkina Faso Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Cyberlindnera fabianii
Diutina mesorugosa
Epicoccum sorghinum
Kluyveromyces marxianus
Leptobacillium leptobactrum
Saitozyma flava

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Experiment 4


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/16

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Location of subjects
Burkina Faso
Italy


Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies
Italian Urban (IT-U)
Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Burkina Faso Rural (BF-R)
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Participants living in areas of Burkina Faso with no Urbanization
Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group
122
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group
51

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
increased
Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa
increased
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: These microbial signatures were found to be more dominant in the Burkina Faso Rural Cohort than in Italian Urban Cohort

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Burkina Faso Rural (BF-R)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Aspergillus flavus
Aspergillus penicillioides
Candida tropicalis
Cyberlindnera fabianii
Diutina mesorugosa
Epicoccum sorghinum
Kluyveromyces marxianus
Malassezia restricta
Saitozyma flava

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to decrease with decreasing urbanization, evidenced by their high presence in Italian Urban Cohort over Burkina Faso Rural Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Burkina Faso Rural (BF-R)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Leptobacillium leptobactrum
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa
[Candida] sake

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Experiment 5


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/18

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Burkina Faso Semi-Urban (BF-SU)
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Participants living in Semi-Urban areas of Burkina Faso
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group
50

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
increased
Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa
increased
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to increase with decreased urbanization, evidenced by their high presence in Burkina Faso Semi-Urban Cohorts.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Burkina Faso Semi-Urban (BF-SU)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Aspergillus flavus
Aspergillus penicillioides
Candida tropicalis
Cyberlindnera fabianii
Diutina mesorugosa
Epicoccum sorghinum
Kluyveromyces marxianus
Malassezia restricta

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: The abundance of these microbial signatures were found to decrease with decrease in urbanization, evidenced by their low presence in Burkina Faso Semi-Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Burkina Faso Semi-Urban (BF-SU)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Leptobacillium leptobactrum
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa
[Candida] sake

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Experiment 6


Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/18

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies
Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)
Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group
Participants living in urbanized area of Burkina Faso
Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group
45

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness
increased
Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa
increased
Richness Number of species
increased

Signature 1

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: These species increased in abundance in the Burkina Faso Urban Cohort over Italian Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Aspergillus flavus
Aspergillus penicillioides
Candida tropicalis
Diutina mesorugosa
Epicoccum sorghinum
Kluyveromyces marxianus
Malassezia restricta
Saitozyma flava

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Signature 2

Needs review

Curated date: 2025/10/20

Curator: Peter03

Revision editor(s): Peter03

Source: Fig. 4

Description: These species were found to decrease in the Burkina Faso Urban Cohort.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Burkina Faso Urban (BF-U)

NCBI Quality ControlLinks
Leptobacillium leptobactrum
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa
[Candida] sake

Revision editor(s): Peter03