Fig. 1

Microbiota features associated with radiation injury concordantly revealed in clinical and experimental studies. Left panel: Eubiosis associated with radio-protection phenotype in hosts, as featured by increased bacterial diversity and overrepresentation of beneficial microbes like SCFA-producers including Lachnospiraceae as well as Lactobacillus and Akkermansia which promote intestinal stem cell repairment by activating EGF and Wnt pathways. Dynamically, microbial diversity and Lachnospiraceae abundance is consistently reported to decline whereas Akkermansia abundance rises throughout radiotherapy. Right panel: Dysbiosis related with radiation injury vulnerability in hosts, as featured by enrichment of potentially harmful microbes including pro-diarrhea Escherichia, IgA-degrader Sutterella as well as pro-inflammatory Fusobacterium, whose abundances all correspondingly increase after radiotherapy. SDI Shannon diversity index. Created with Biorender.com