On October 8, Shanghai Jiao Tong University announced a significant breakthrough from Professor Zhao Liping’s team at the School of Life Sciences and Technology. In partnership with international researchers, the team published their findings in the prestigious journal *Cell*, revealing two essential microbial groups—termed “keystone functional groups” and “pathogenic functional groups”—that play a vital role in maintaining human health for the first time.
This discovery has the potential to set new standards for assessing gut health and could lead to advancements in personalized microbiome testing technologies, offering powerful solutions for clinical disease prevention and public health management.
According to the researchers, these two microbial groups interact in a “seesaw” model, where fluctuations in their relative abundances directly influence human health. When the keystone functional group is prevalent, the gut microbiota remains healthy. Conversely, an increase in the pathogenic functional group indicates potential health problems. This “seesaw” phenomenon appears across various populations and is crucial for health maintenance.
Recent studies have indicated that gut microbiota supports regular digestive functions and is essential for overall well-being, comparable to a vital organ. However, the scientific community has yet to agree on which specific members constitute the “core microbiota” necessary for good health.
To conduct their study, Zhao Liping’s team examined 110 patients with type 2 diabetes. They developed innovative high-resolution microbiome sequencing and big data analysis methods to classify gut bacteria based on their cooperative or competitive behaviors. They identified 141 bacterial strains that maintained these relationships over time, leading to a network structure resembling a “seesaw,” where the increase of one group leads to the decrease of another, thus impacting human health. Their analysis confirmed that this “seesaw” model is widely evident in gut samples from both patients and healthy individuals, aligning with traits of the “core microbiota.”
The research highlighted that the “seesaw” model comprises beneficial functional groups associated with disease reduction—referred to as “keystone functional groups”—and those linked to disease worsening, known as “pathogenic functional groups.” To emphasize the significance of keystone functional groups, Zhao compared them to “big tree bacteria.” He stressed that a stable gut ecosystem can only flourish like a dense forest when these “big tree bacteria” dominate, effectively limiting the excessive growth of pathogenic strains and harmful bacteria, thereby enhancing overall health.
The team also found that targeted nutritional interventions could alter the balance between these two functional groups, encouraging the dominance of the keystone functional group—”big tree bacteria”—and subsequently improving patient health. “Interestingly, imbalances in their ratios appeared before any disease symptoms, paving the way for personalized prevention, treatment, and health management,” Zhao remarked.
In assessing the study’s impact, Chinese Academy of Sciences academician Zhao Guoping stated, “This research successfully transforms the previously elusive micro-ecosystem into a quantifiable network structure. It signifies a shift from traditional species identification to an ecological analysis of ‘core microbiota function.’ This represents a groundbreaking development in microecological theory and an innovation in microbiome research approaches.”
Looking ahead, Zhao Liping mentioned that recognizing the seesaw dynamics of gut core microbiota—especially the crucial function of “big tree bacteria” in health—opens new avenues for personalized medicine and precision nutrition. “Our goal is to target big tree bacteria and develop a suite of clinically relevant diagnostic and therapeutic solutions, showcasing their effectiveness across various diseases and truly benefiting patients,” he concluded.