UC San Diego

Obese and lean microbiotaThe many 'friendly' microbes that inhabit the human gut have been implicated in numerous health-related issues, in particular those involving digestion and susceptibility to infection. A study of the faecal microbial communities of pairs of adult female twins, selected to include 'lean' and 'obese' individuals, reveals some similarities between the human gut microbiomes among family members, but each person's gut microbial community varies in the specific bacterial lineages present. There was a wide array of shared microbial genes among individuals, comprising an identifiable 'core microbiome' at the gene, rather than at the microbial species level. This core includes many novel genes for carbohydrate metabolism, and deviations from this core are associated with the obese versus lean state.