Gut bacteria types
Gut-Bacteria Mapping Finds Three Global Varieties
By Brandon Keim
"In much the same way that every person has one of eight common blood types, each of us may contain one of several possible bacterial communities, suggests new research. ...Published Apr. 21 in Nature, the findings add a tantalizing wrinkle to the fast-growing field of human microbiomics, or the study of how microbes colonize our bodies.
"The search returned three distinctive 'enterotypes,' or bacterial communities dominated by a distinct genus - Bacteroides, Prevotella or Ruminococcus - each of which is found with a particular community of bacteria (see picture above). Beyond identifying the enterotypes, 'anything we say now will be a hypothesis,' said Arumugam. In terms of function, each of the enterotype-defining genera has been linked to nutrient-processing preferences - Bacteroides to carbohydrates, Prevotella to proteins called mucins, or Ruminococcus to mucins and sugars - but far more may be going on."
Read the original at www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/gut-bacteria-types/
By Brandon Keim
"In much the same way that every person has one of eight common blood types, each of us may contain one of several possible bacterial communities, suggests new research. ...Published Apr. 21 in Nature, the findings add a tantalizing wrinkle to the fast-growing field of human microbiomics, or the study of how microbes colonize our bodies.
"The search returned three distinctive 'enterotypes,' or bacterial communities dominated by a distinct genus - Bacteroides, Prevotella or Ruminococcus - each of which is found with a particular community of bacteria (see picture above). Beyond identifying the enterotypes, 'anything we say now will be a hypothesis,' said Arumugam. In terms of function, each of the enterotype-defining genera has been linked to nutrient-processing preferences - Bacteroides to carbohydrates, Prevotella to proteins called mucins, or Ruminococcus to mucins and sugars - but far more may be going on."
Read the original at www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/gut-bacteria-types/