Diversity of the human intestinal microbial flora.
Journal: 2005/June - Science
ISSN: 1095-9203
Abstract:
The human endogenous intestinal microflora is an essential "organ" in providing nourishment, regulating epithelial development, and instructing innate immunity; yet, surprisingly, basic features remain poorly described. We examined 13,355 prokaryotic ribosomal RNA gene sequences from multiple colonic mucosal sites and feces of healthy subjects to improve our understanding of gut microbial diversity. A majority of the bacterial sequences corresponded to uncultivated species and novel microorganisms. We discovered significant intersubject variability and differences between stool and mucosa community composition. Characterization of this immensely diverse ecosystem is the first step in elucidating its role in health and disease.
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Science 308(5728): 1635-1638

Diversity of the Human Intestinal Microbial Flora

Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Room S-169, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford CA 94305–5107, USA.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 299 Campus Drive, Room D300, Fairchild Science Building, Stanford CA 94305–5124, USA.
Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Manitoba, MS 779-820 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3A 1R9, Canada.
Department of Statistics, Sequoia Hall, 390 Serra Mall, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305, USA.
The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ude.drofnats@1grubkce (P.B.E.); ude.drofnats@namler (D.A.R.)

Abstract

The human endogenous intestinal microflora is an essential “organ” in providing nourishment, regulating epithelial development, and instructing innate immunity; yet, surprisingly, basic features remain poorly described. We examined 13,355 prokaryotic ribosomal RNA gene sequences from multiple colonic mucosal sites and feces of healthy subjects to improve our understanding of gut microbial diversity. A majority of the bacterial sequences corresponded to uncultivated species and novel microorganisms. We discovered significant intersubject variability and differences between stool and mucosa community composition. Characterization of this immensely diverse ecosystem is the first step in elucidating its role in health and disease.

Abstract

Footnotes

Supporting Online Material www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1110591/DC1 Materials and Methods SOM Text Figs. S1 to S8 Tables S1 to S6 References

Footnotes

References and Notes

References and Notes

References

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  • 25. We thank B. Bohannan, M. B. Omary, and S. Holmes (Stanford University) for helpful comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by grants from the NIH (no. AI51259) and Ellison Medical Foundation (D.A.R.), Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada (C.N.B., M.S.), National Science Foundation (E.P.), and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (S.R.G., K.E.N.). Representatives of novel phylo-types (AY916135 to AY916390) and all other sequences (AY974810 to AY986384) were deposited in GenBank
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