Unraveling the evolutionary trajectory of the gut microbiome through the analysis of variation landscapes in prevalent commensal bacteria

The gut microbiome plays a critical role in human health, but its evolutionary trajectory remains challenging to understand due to its complex composition. In this project, we aim to investigate the mutation landscape of the most prevalent species across different cohorts using publicly available datasets. By aligning metagenomic sequencing reads to reference genomes and identifying highly selected genes and non-coding regions, we seek to uncover the selection processes driving the diversity of the gut microbiome. Additionally, we will explore correlations between these selections and metadata, such as medicine and diet, to gain insights into their potential impact. Ultimately, our study aims to deepen our understanding of the gut microbiome's adaptation and its implications for human health.