Stability of the human faecal microbiome in a cohort of adult men. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Characterizing the stability of the gut microbiome is important to exploit it as a therapeutic target and diagnostic biomarker. We metagenomically and metatranscriptomically sequenced the faecal microbiomes of 308 participants in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Participants provided four stool samples-one pair collected 24-72 h apart and a second pair ~6 months later. Within-person taxonomic and functional variation was consistently lower than between-person variation over time. In contrast, metatranscriptomic profiles were comparably variable within and between subjects due to higher within-subject longitudinal variation. Metagenomic instability accounted for ~74% of corresponding metatranscriptomic instability. The rest was probably attributable to sources such as regulation. Among the pathways that were differentially regulated, most were consistently over- or under-transcribed at each time point. Together, these results suggest that a single measurement of the faecal microbiome can provide long-term information regarding organismal composition and functional potential, but repeated or short-term measures may be necessary for dynamic features identified by metatranscriptomics.

publication date

  • January 15, 2018

Research

keywords

  • Feces
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome
  • Gene Expression
  • Microbiota

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC6016839

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85040646017

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/s41561-017-0084-4

PubMed ID

  • 29335554

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 3

issue

  • 3