Published author, talk show host, movie star, musician, and philanthropist—Lil BUB has now also helped to discover novel microbial life living in her gut in collaboration with AnimalBiome, KittyBiome, and Phase Genomics. Enter to sequence your cat’s microbiome in our #Meowcrobiome twitter raffle!
We live in an era of discovery, especially as it relates to the microbiome and how microbial diversity influences our world, our health—and even our pet’s health. To better understand the microbial life of our feline friends, Lil BUB volunteered to sequence her gut microbiome. Thanks to a recent collaboration with AnimalBiome, KittyBiome, and Phase Genomics, Lil BUB helped discover 22 new microbes living in cats which, in time, could reveal new insights into cat health and happiness.
When KittyBiome started back in 2015 with an intent to understand the cat microbiome, Lil BUB’s owner Mike “Dude” Bridavsky provided a sample of her poop to be analyzed. Because of Lil BUB and over 1,000 other cats, KittyBiome’s microbial census will help us identify what microbes are associated with healthy cats and work towards helping cats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), diabetes and other ailments likely to be associated with the microbiome.
USING GENOMICS TO FIND MICROBES
Late last year, Phase Genomics offered to analyze samples from Lil BUB and another cat, Danny (belonging to Jennifer Gardy—a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia and science TV host), using our ProxiMeta™ Hi-C Metagenomic Deconvolution platform to obtain complete microbial genomes from their samples. This method solves a huge problem in microbiome research—how to tell apart different species when their DNA is all mixed up in one sample (imagine a thousand jigsaw puzzles mixed together).
ProxiMeta Hi-C revealed about two hundred different species of microorganisms living in Lil BUB and Danny’s poop, many of which have never been seen before. The genome sequences of the microorganisms found in these samples were analyzed using our software and other microbiome analysis tools to measure the quality of the different assembled genomes and to see if those genomes matched any known microbes (Lil BUB’s and Danny’s data are available for free on our website). Without using our ProxiMeta Hi-C platform to extract these genomes, many of them would have been undetectable and gone unseen.
Phase Genomics sequenced both Lil BUB (left) and Danny’s (right) poop samples.
OVER 20 NEW BACTERIAL GENOMES DISCOVERED
Together, Lil BUB and her buddy Danny carry 22 previously undescribed bacterial species in their guts. Lil BUB’s poop sample had 13 species and Danny’s sample had 9 species that have never before been fully sequenced or characterized.
These new bacterial species mostly belong to the order Clostridiales, and the team is currently analyzing the genomes to better characterize them. This discovery will help continue to build a database that contains cat bacteria that are new to science, so we can better identify the contributions of the microbiome to various health conditions.
This cool discovery, made with the help of Lil BUB and Danny, highlights that there’s a universe of undiscovered microbial life out there. If we found 22 potentially novel species in only two cats, just imagine what else is out there, and what the implications might be for new ways to support and improve the health of our pets.
WHO ARE OUR HERO CATS?
Lil BUB is a one of a kind critter, made famous on the Internet due to her adorable genetic anomalies. She is a “perma-kitten”, which means she will stay kitten-sized and maintain kitten-like features her entire life. She has an extreme case of dwarfism, which means her limbs are disproportionately small relative to the rest of her body. Her lower jaw is significantly shorter than her upper jaw, and her teeth never grew in so her tongue is always hanging out. Lil BUB is also a polydactyl cat, meaning she has extra toes – 22 toes total! Lil BUB and Her Dude travel all over the country raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for animals in need.
Danny, an exotic shorthair with a face much like Grumpy Cat, is equally adorable. He is the companion cat of one of KittyBiome’s original researchers, Jennifer Gardy, and was one of the very first cats to lend his poop profile to the KittyBiome initiative. He is a very healthy cat and his microbial profile has helped us learn what a balanced gut in cats looks like.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Phase Genomics and AnimalBiome are eager to learn more about these newly-discovered bacterial species. They hope to work with the scientific community to analyze, identify, characterize and publish these genomes, starting with exploring their identities based on 16S rRNA and other marker genes.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
- Help characterize the new bacteria: If you know of a researcher, scientist or cat-lover who would like to help us, we are soliciting input on the analysis that needs to be done to properly characterize and publish these genomes. Participants who contribute in a substantive manner to the project will be co-authors on the publication. All data associated with the project will be deposited into publicly available databases and we will publish the findings in open access journals, so all pet lovers can read them. We will hold a raffle to award one lucky contributor a free Hi-C sample kit from Phase Genomics. If interested, contact us at team@animalbiome.com to learn more.
- Name the new bacteria: We’re looking for input from the community on what we should name these 22 new bacteria, so if you have any fun ideas, please drop us an email at team@animalbiome.com. The format should follow standard practices of scientific nomenclature, so it should be constructed like this: “Clostridium _________.”
- Find out what your pet’s microbiome looks like: If you’re interested in having your cat’s microbiome assessed to see how your cat’s gut compares to healthy cats, you can order a Kitty Kit – Microbiome Testing for Cats (or a Doggy Kit – Microbiome Testing for Dogs).
- Submit your pet’s sample for genomic research: If you don’t win the raffle and still want your pet to contribute to scientific knowledge through the identification of new bacterial species, please contact us at team@animalbiome.com. We can provide you with the details and pricing involved for us to identify new species in your cat or dog through in depth analyses like we did for Lil BUB and Danny using the Hi-C approach pioneered by Phase Genomics, which would also result in a publication.
Improving databases of the microbiome of cats (and dogs) with new bacteria like this could help us learn more about how the gut microbiome helps support the digestive health of all pets.
ENTER YOUR CAT IN OUR TWITTER RAFFLE
Phase Genomics, AnimalBiome and KittyBiome are hosting a twitter raffle where you can enter to sequence your cat’s microbiome! All you have to do is go to either the Phase Genomics’ or AnimalBiome’s original tweet of this blog, retweet it with a picture and introduction of your cat with the hashtag #Meowcrobiome. On August 8th 2018, we will randomly draw one (1) winner whose cat poop will be scientifically analyzed by Phase Genomics with ProxiMeta Hi-C to search for novel microbes, and three (3) additional winners whose cat poop will receive a Kitty Kit to have their cat’s poop analyzed by Animal Biome to compare their cat’s gut to healthy cat guts. Send in your cat’s poop, and you too can help discover new microbial life!
LIL BUB AND DANNY’S STORY FEATURED ON GEEKWIRE PODCAST
GeekWire discussed Lil BUB, Danny, and the new bacteria found in their poop in their weekly Week in Geek podcast. Check out the full podcast on their website (the segment begins around 22:58), or play just the segment about Lil BUB and Danny below.