Welcome to the Microbiome by Rob DeSalle

Author:Rob DeSalle [DeSalle, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2015-03-18T04:00:00+00:00

Figure 4.4. A cow with a cannula—a windowlike opening that allows researchers to have direct access to the cow’s multichambered stomach.

The human fecal microbiome has been examined extensively. The most comprehensive study was done by one of the gurus of microbiome research, Jeffrey Gordon, at Washington University in Saint Louis. Gordon and his colleagues examined the fecal material of more than five hundred men, women, and children from three diverse regions of the globe: Venezuela, Malawi, and the United States. The focus was on healthy subjects, some of whom were identical or fraternal twins. The theme of differences in microbial diversity between individual people also holds for fecal material and, in turn, for gut microbiomes. But there are also regionally specific differences among the three major populations, with the U.S. microbiomes looking very different compared to the Malawi and Venezuelan ones (Figure 4.5). The differences not only show up in children, but also are evident in adulthood. What are some of the details?

First, the microbial diversity of fecal microbiomes increased with age during the first three years of life. Strikingly, children after age three in all geographic regions experienced age-associated changes in the gut microbiome. By analyzing the genes of the microbes that implemented the change, Gordon and his team determined that the bacterial genes critical to the age-associated change are involved in vitamin biosynthesis and metabolism. It is clear that the stuff that passes through our digestive tracts is susceptible to both geographic changes and age changes.

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