Post-transcriptional regulation by the gut microbiota decoded by nanopore direct RNA sequencing

It has been widely recognized that the microbiota has the capacity to shape host gene expression and physiological functions. However, there remains a paucity of comprehensive study revealing host transcriptional landscape regulated by the microbiota. Here, we comprehensively examined mRNA landscapes in mouse tissues (brain and cecum) from specific pathogen free (SPF) and germ-free mouse (GF) using Nanopore direct RNA sequencing. Our results show that the microbiome has global influence on host’s RNA modifications (m6A, m5C, Ψ), isoform generation, poly(A) tail length (PAL), and transcript abundance in both brain and cecum tissues. Moreover, the microbiome exerts tissue-specific effects on various post-transcriptional regulatory processes. In addition, the microbiome impacts the coordination of multiple RNA modifications in host brain and cecum tissues. In conclusion, we establish the relationship between microbial regulation and gene expression, our results help the understanding of the mechanisms by which the microbiome reprograms host gene expression.