Porphyromonas: A neglected potential key genus in human microbiomes

Anaerobes form a large part of microbial communities, and have begun to be specifically studied in both healthy and pathologic contexts. Porphyromonas is one of the top ten anaerobic taxa in the microbiome (anaerobiome) in healthy subjects. However, to date, most studies focused on the deleterious role of P. gingivalis, the most widely described species. Interestingly, targeted metagenomics reveals Porphyr-omonas other than gingivalis (POTG), highlighting other species such as P. catoniae or P. pasteri as po-tential biomarkers in disease progression or pathogen colonization susceptibility. From the sparse data, it appears that the Porphyromonas genus may also be a relevant target of investigation in several pulmo-nary diseases. Moreover, deciphering cutaneous, gastric and oral microbiomes hint that Porphyromonas may be a genus of interest in non-pulmonary diseases. This review aims to summarize the major data on POTG and to report their impact on the various human microbiomes in different clinical states. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Anaerobes play a significant role in microbial communities, with Porphyromonas being one of the top anaerobic taxa in healthy individuals. While most research has focused on the harmful effects of P. gingivalis, targeted metagenomics has revealed the potential of other Porphyromonas species as biomarkers in disease progression or pathogen colonization susceptibility. Further studies are needed to explore the relevance of the Porphyromonas genus in various diseases and microbiomes.