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Diversity, stability and resilience of the human gut microbiota

Nature volume 489, pages 220–230 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Trillions of microbes inhabit the human intestine, forming a complex ecological community that influences normal physiology and susceptibility to disease through its collective metabolic activities and host interactions. Understanding the factors that underlie changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiota will aid in the design of therapies that target it. This goal is formidable. The gut microbiota is immensely diverse, varies between individuals and can fluctuate over time — especially during disease and early development. Viewing the microbiota from an ecological perspective could provide insight into how to promote health by targeting this microbial community in clinical treatments.

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Figure 1: Maintaining our gut microbial lawn.
Figure 2: Tools for evaluating microbiota diversity.
Figure 3: Diversity of the human microbiota at different phylogenetic scales.
Figure 4: Functional redundancy.
Figure 5: Human microbial diversity and enterotypes.
Figure 6: Compositional transitions in the human gut microbiota.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank L. Parfrey, J. Knight and A. Knight for their comments on this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Catherine A. Lozupone, Jesse I. Stombaugh & Rob Knight

  2. Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

    Jeffrey I. Gordon

  3. Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA

    Janet K. Jansson

  4. Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Walnut Creek, California, USA

    Janet K. Jansson

  5. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Rob Knight

  6. Biofrontiers Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Rob Knight

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Correspondence to Rob Knight.

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Lozupone, C., Stombaugh, J., Gordon, J. et al. Diversity, stability and resilience of the human gut microbiota. Nature 489, 220–230 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11550

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