Ugandan (Batwa/Bakiga) Project
About
The Batwa/Bakiga project is part of a collaboration with several researchers interested in how drastic lifestyle changes, such as the transition to agriculture and Industrialisation, may have significantly altered the composition and diversity of oral microbiota in populations. However, limited geographical and temporal sampling has hindered a more detailed understanding of these changes. If these changes continue to influence oral microbiota today, others have argued that oral microbiota may be more resistant to Industrialized changes compared to gut microbiota due to deep co-evolutionary relationships between oral microbes and biofilm formation and microbial metabolism of host proteins. Here, we examine microbiota from Batwa rainforest hunter-gatherers and neighboring Bakiga subsistence farmers living in southwest Uganda. Using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, we obtained a robust salivary oral microbiota signal. We also compare these microbiotas with published worldwide data from Tanzanians, Yanomami hunter-gatherers from Venezuela, and Industrialized populations from the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Project Lead
Iyunoluwa Jesudemilade