Abstract
Abstract
Desulfovibrio
spp. are associated with inflammatory diseases and human health, yet limited representative genomes and isolates hinder our understanding of their role in disease. Here, we assembled a comprehensive database of 2658
Desulfovibrio
genomes across 90 diseases and 32 countries, including 24 human isolates. Genomic analyses showed extensive species diversity and revealed disease-associated functional traits, including flagellin and adaptation-associated genes (i.e., ureases). Flagellin-mediated Toll-like receptor 5 activation was species-specific and
D. desulfuricans
flagellin downregulated TGF-beta signalling in murine small intestinal organoids, suggesting impaired immune tolerance. Additionally, we investigated genomic capacity for hydrogen sulfide (H
2
S) production, a main
Desulfovibrio
metabolite. While health- and disease-associated
Desulfovibrio
spp. mainly encoded dissimilatory sulfate reduction, tetrathionate metabolism-encoding bacteria were exclusively detected in inflammatory bowel diseases, including
Proteus mirabilis
and
Morganella morganii
. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive genomic
Desulfovibrio
resource and identifies new links associating strain variation, functional traits and H
2
S-production with inflammatory diseases.