Nested in the AWI-Gen 2 Microbiome Project (1,801 participants across Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa), this work links deep shotgun and long-read metagenomes with CRP and multimorbidity phenotypes. De novo MAGs recover African taxa missed by reference profilers; pre-specified microbial functions (SCFA, bile-acid, tryptophan–indole) are tested against CRP/multimorbidity, with long-read pangenomes resolving strain-level structure. Reproducible Nextflow workflows and preliminary findings will be presented.
Session 3 — Flash talks
The role of the gut microbiome in inflammation and multimorbidity in African populations: evidence from AWI-Gen
Aaron Y. Berkman*, Luicer A. Olubayo, Scott Hazelhurst
AWI-Gen 2 Microbiome Project / University of the Witwatersrand
Keywords: gut microbiome; AWI-Gen; inflammation; multimorbidity