Author
William A. Walters
Other affiliations: University of Colorado Boulder
Bio: William A. Walters is an academic researcher from Max Planck Society. The author has contributed to research in topics: Microbiome & Dysbiosis. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 14 publications receiving 5669 citations. Previous affiliations of William A. Walters include University of Colorado Boulder.
Topics: Microbiome, Dysbiosis, Population, Antibody, Systemic inflammation
Papers
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Northern Arizona University1, National Institutes of Health2, University of Minnesota3, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution4, University of California, Davis5, Massachusetts Institute of Technology6, University of Copenhagen7, University of Trento8, Chinese Academy of Sciences9, University of California, San Francisco10, University of Pennsylvania11, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory12, North Carolina State University13, University of California, San Diego14, Institute for Systems Biology15, Dalhousie University16, University of British Columbia17, Statens Serum Institut18, Anschutz Medical Campus19, University of Washington20, Michigan State University21, Stanford University22, Broad Institute23, Harvard University24, Australian National University25, University of Düsseldorf26, University of New South Wales27, Sookmyung Women's University28, San Diego State University29, Howard Hughes Medical Institute30, Cornell University31, Max Planck Society32, Colorado State University33, Google34, Syracuse University35, Webster University36, United States Department of Agriculture37, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences38, Colorado School of Mines39, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration40, University of Southern Mississippi41, University of California, Merced42, Wageningen University and Research Centre43, University of Arizona44, Environment Agency45, University of Florida46, Merck & Co.47
TL;DR: QIIME 2 development was primarily funded by NSF Awards 1565100 to J.G.C. and R.K.P. and partial support was also provided by the following: grants NIH U54CA143925 and U54MD012388.
Abstract: QIIME 2 development was primarily funded by NSF Awards 1565100 to J.G.C. and 1565057 to R.K. Partial support was also provided by the following: grants NIH U54CA143925 (J.G.C. and T.P.) and U54MD012388 (J.G.C. and T.P.); grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (J.G.C. and R.K.); ERCSTG project MetaPG (N.S.); the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences QYZDB-SSW-SMC021 (Y.B.); the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council APP1085372 (G.A.H., J.G.C., Von Bing Yap and R.K.); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to D.L.G.; and the State of Arizona Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF), administered by the Arizona Board of Regents, through Northern Arizona University. All NCI coauthors were supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute. S.M.G. and C. Diener were supported by the Washington Research Foundation Distinguished Investigator Award.
8,821 citations
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Northern Arizona University1, University of Minnesota2, University of California, Davis3, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution4, Massachusetts Institute of Technology5, University of Copenhagen6, University of Trento7, Chinese Academy of Sciences8, University of California, San Francisco9, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia10, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory11, North Carolina State University12, University of Montana13, Dalhousie University14, University of British Columbia15, Shedd Aquarium16, University of Colorado Denver17, University of California, San Diego18, Michigan State University19, Stanford University20, Broad Institute21, Harvard University22, Australian National University23, University of Düsseldorf24, Sookmyung Women's University25, San Diego State University26, Howard Hughes Medical Institute27, Max Planck Society28, Cornell University29, University of Washington30, Colorado State University31, Google32, Syracuse University33, Webster University34, United States Department of Agriculture35, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences36, Colorado School of Mines37, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory38, University of Southern Mississippi39, University of California, Merced40, Wageningen University and Research Centre41, University of Arizona42, Environment Agency43, University of Florida44, Merck & Co.45
TL;DR: QIIME 2 provides new features that will drive the next generation of microbiome research, including interactive spatial and temporal analysis and visualization tools, support for metabolomics and shotgun metagenomics analysis, and automated data provenance tracking to ensure reproducible, transparent microbiome data science.
Abstract: We present QIIME 2, an open-source microbiome data science platform accessible to users spanning the microbiome research ecosystem, from scientists and engineers to clinicians and policy makers. QIIME 2 provides new features that will drive the next generation of microbiome research. These include interactive spatial and temporal analysis and visualization tools, support for metabolomics and shotgun metagenomics analysis, and automated data provenance tracking to ensure reproducible, transparent microbiome data science.
875 citations
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TL;DR: There was some correlation between observed dramatic fluctuations in the gut microbiome and intensified medication due to a flare of the disease, and these results will help guide therapies that will redirect the Gut microbiome towards a healthy state and maintain remission in IBD.
Abstract: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by flares of inflammation with a periodic need for increased medication and sometimes even surgery. The aetiology of IBD is partly attributed to a deregulated immune response to gut microbiome dysbiosis. Cross-sectional studies have revealed microbial signatures for different IBD subtypes, including ulcerative colitis, colonic Crohn's disease and ileal Crohn's disease. Although IBD is dynamic, microbiome studies have primarily focused on single time points or a few individuals. Here, we dissect the long-term dynamic behaviour of the gut microbiome in IBD and differentiate this from normal variation. Microbiomes of IBD subjects fluctuate more than those of healthy individuals, based on deviation from a newly defined healthy plane (HP). Ileal Crohn's disease subjects deviated most from the HP, especially subjects with surgical resection. Intriguingly, the microbiomes of some IBD subjects periodically visited the HP then deviated away from it. Inflammation was not directly correlated with distance to the healthy plane, but there was some correlation between observed dramatic fluctuations in the gut microbiome and intensified medication due to a flare of the disease. These results will help guide therapies that will redirect the gut microbiome towards a healthy state and maintain remission in IBD.
750 citations
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TL;DR: Soil protistan communities were highly diverse, approaching the extreme diversity of their bacterial counterparts across the same sites, and like bacterial taxa, protistan taxa were not globally distributed, and the composition of these communities diverged considerably across large geographic distances.
Abstract: Protists are ubiquitous members of soil microbial communities, but the structure of these communities, and the factors that influence their diversity, are poorly understood. We used barcoded pyrosequencing to survey comprehensively the diversity of soil protists from 40 sites across a broad geographic range that represent a variety of biome types, from tropical forests to deserts. In addition to taxa known to be dominant in soil, including Cercozoa and Ciliophora, we found high relative abundances of groups such as Apicomplexa and Dinophyceae that have not previously been recognized as being important components of soil microbial communities. Soil protistan communities were highly diverse, approaching the extreme diversity of their bacterial counterparts across the same sites. Like bacterial taxa, protistan taxa were not globally distributed, and the composition of these communities diverged considerably across large geographic distances. However, soil protistan and bacterial communities exhibit very different global-scale biogeographical patterns, with protistan communities strongly structured by climatic conditions that regulate annual soil moisture availability.
367 citations
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TL;DR: Plant genetic effects were significant amid the large effects of plant age on the rhizosphere microbiome, regardless of the specific community of each field, and despite microbiome responses to climate events.
Abstract: Soil microbes that colonize plant roots and are responsive to differences in plant genotype remain to be ascertained for agronomically important crops. From a very large-scale longitudinal field study of 27 maize inbred lines planted in three fields, with partial replication 5 y later, we identify root-associated microbiota exhibiting reproducible associations with plant genotype. Analysis of 4,866 samples identified 143 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) whose variation in relative abundances across the samples was significantly regulated by plant genotype, and included five of seven core OTUs present in all samples. Plant genetic effects were significant amid the large effects of plant age on the rhizosphere microbiome, regardless of the specific community of each field, and despite microbiome responses to climate events. Seasonal patterns showed that the plant root microbiome is locally seeded, changes with plant growth, and responds to weather events. However, against this background of variation, specific taxa responded to differences in host genotype. If shown to have beneficial functions, microbes may be considered candidate traits for selective breeding.
365 citations
Cited by
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TL;DR: Some notable features of IQ-TREE version 2 are described and the key advantages over other software are highlighted.
Abstract: IQ-TREE (http://www.iqtree.org, last accessed February 6, 2020) is a user-friendly and widely used software package for phylogenetic inference using maximum likelihood. Since the release of version 1 in 2014, we have continuously expanded IQ-TREE to integrate a plethora of new models of sequence evolution and efficient computational approaches of phylogenetic inference to deal with genomic data. Here, we describe notable features of IQ-TREE version 2 and highlight the key advantages over other software.
4,337 citations
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American Museum of Natural History1, University of Tartu2, University of Colombo3, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences4, University of Florida5, University of Palermo6, Goethe University Frankfurt7, Hobart Corporation8, Nakhon Phanom University9, University of Bamenda10, University of Gothenburg11, Naturalis12, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences13, Royal Botanic Gardens14, Universiti Malaysia Sabah15, United States Department of Agriculture16, Forest Research Institute Malaysia17, Humboldt State University18, Chinese Academy of Sciences19, Landcare Research20, University of Western Australia21, Estonian University of Life Sciences22, University of Southern Queensland23, Botanic Garden Meise24, Manchester Metropolitan University25, James Cook University26
TL;DR: Diversity of most fungal groups peaked in tropical ecosystems, but ectomycorrhizal fungi and several fungal classes were most diverse in temperate or boreal ecosystems, and manyfungal groups exhibited distinct preferences for specific edaphic conditions (such as pH, calcium, or phosphorus).
Abstract: Fungi play major roles in ecosystem processes, but the determinants of fungal diversity and biogeographic patterns remain poorly understood. Using DNA metabarcoding data from hundreds of globally distributed soil samples, we demonstrate that fungal richness is decoupled from plant diversity. The plant-to-fungus richness ratio declines exponentially toward the poles. Climatic factors, followed by edaphic and spatial variables, constitute the best predictors of fungal richness and community composition at the global scale. Fungi show similar latitudinal diversity gradients to other organisms, with several notable exceptions. These findings advance our understanding of global fungal diversity patterns and permit integration of fungi into a general macroecological framework.
2,346 citations
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TL;DR: Fungi typically live in highly diverse communities composed of multiple ecological guilds, and FUNGuild is a tool that can be used to taxonomically parse fungal OTUs by ecological guild independent of sequencing platform or analysis pipeline.
2,290 citations
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TL;DR: Recent progress in understanding belowground biodiversity and its role in determining the ecological and evolutionary responses of terrestrial ecosystems to current and future environmental change are reviewed.
Abstract: Evidence is mounting that the immense diversity of microorganisms and animals that live belowground contributes significantly to shaping aboveground biodiversity and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Our understanding of how this belowground biodiversity is distributed, and how it regulates the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, is rapidly growing. Evidence also points to soil biodiversity as having a key role in determining the ecological and evolutionary responses of terrestrial ecosystems to current and future environmental change. Here we review recent progress and propose avenues for further research in this field.
2,074 citations
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Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, Baylor College of Medicine3, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory4, University of California, Los Angeles5, University of California, San Diego6, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center7, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center8, Emory University9, Umeå University10, University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center11, Washington University in St. Louis12, Massachusetts Institute of Technology13
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that periods of disease activity were also marked by increases in temporal variability, with characteristic taxonomic, functional, and biochemical shifts, and integrative analysis identified microbial, biochemical, and host factors central to this dysregulation.
Abstract: Inflammatory bowel diseases, which include Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, affect several million individuals worldwide. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are complex diseases that are heterogeneous at the clinical, immunological, molecular, genetic, and microbial levels. Individual contributing factors have been the focus of extensive research. As part of the Integrative Human Microbiome Project (HMP2 or iHMP), we followed 132 subjects for one year each to generate integrated longitudinal molecular profiles of host and microbial activity during disease (up to 24 time points each; in total 2,965 stool, biopsy, and blood specimens). Here we present the results, which provide a comprehensive view of functional dysbiosis in the gut microbiome during inflammatory bowel disease activity. We demonstrate a characteristic increase in facultative anaerobes at the expense of obligate anaerobes, as well as molecular disruptions in microbial transcription (for example, among clostridia), metabolite pools (acylcarnitines, bile acids, and short-chain fatty acids), and levels of antibodies in host serum. Periods of disease activity were also marked by increases in temporal variability, with characteristic taxonomic, functional, and biochemical shifts. Finally, integrative analysis identified microbial, biochemical, and host factors central to this dysregulation. The study's infrastructure resources, results, and data, which are available through the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Multi'omics Database ( http://ibdmdb.org ), provide the most comprehensive description to date of host and microbial activities in inflammatory bowel diseases.
1,385 citations