TY - JOUR
T1 - Functional metagenomic investigations of the human intestinal microbiota
AU - Moore, Aimee M.
AU - Munck, Christian
AU - Sommer, Morten O.A.
AU - Dantas, Gautam
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - The human intestinal microbiota encode multiple critical functions impacting human health, including metabolism of dietary substrate, prevention of pathogen invasion, immune system modulation, and provision of a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes accessible to pathogens. The complexity of this microbial community, its recalcitrance to standard cultivation, and the immense diversity of its encoded genes has necessitated the development of novel molecular, microbiological, and genomic tools. Functional metagenomics is one such culture-independent technique, used for decades to study environmental microorganisms, but relatively recently applied to the study of the human commensal microbiota. Metagenomic functional screens characterize the functional capacity of a microbial community, independent of identity to known genes, by subjecting the metagenome to functional assays in a genetically tractable host. Here we highlight recent work applying this technique to study the functional diversity of the intestinal microbiota, and discuss how an approach combining high-throughput sequencing, cultivation, and metagenomic functional screens can improve our understanding of interactions between this complex community and its human host.
AB - The human intestinal microbiota encode multiple critical functions impacting human health, including metabolism of dietary substrate, prevention of pathogen invasion, immune system modulation, and provision of a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes accessible to pathogens. The complexity of this microbial community, its recalcitrance to standard cultivation, and the immense diversity of its encoded genes has necessitated the development of novel molecular, microbiological, and genomic tools. Functional metagenomics is one such culture-independent technique, used for decades to study environmental microorganisms, but relatively recently applied to the study of the human commensal microbiota. Metagenomic functional screens characterize the functional capacity of a microbial community, independent of identity to known genes, by subjecting the metagenome to functional assays in a genetically tractable host. Here we highlight recent work applying this technique to study the functional diversity of the intestinal microbiota, and discuss how an approach combining high-throughput sequencing, cultivation, and metagenomic functional screens can improve our understanding of interactions between this complex community and its human host.
KW - Antibiotic resistome
KW - Functional metagenomics
KW - Human intestinal microbiota
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84864106655&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmicb.2011.00188
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2011.00188
M3 - Article
C2 - 22022321
AN - SCOPUS:84864106655
VL - 2
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
JF - Frontiers in Microbiology
SN - 1664-302X
IS - OCT
ER -