Watch the presentation on Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/VHIR/j-dore-vhir-19112013 VHIR seminar led by Joel Doré. Research Director. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA). Jouy-en-Josas, France Abstract: The human intestinal tract harbours a complex microbial ecosystem which plays a key role in nutrition and health. Interactions between food constituents, microbes and the host organism derive from a long co-evolution that resulted in a mutualistic association. Current investigations into the human faecal metagenome are delivering an extensive gene repertoire representative of functional potentials of the human intestinal microbiota. The most redundant genomic traits of the human intestinal microbiota are identified and thereby its functional balance. These observation point towards the existence of enterotypes, i.e. microbiota sharing specific traits but yet independent of geographic origin, age, sex etc.. It also shows a unique segregation of the human population into individuals with low versus high gene-counts. In the end, it not only gives an unprecedented view of the intestinal microbiota, but it also significantly expands our ability to look for specificities of the microbiota associated with human diseases and to ultimately validate microbial signatures of prognostic and diagnostic value in immune mediated diseases.

• published: 20 Nov 2013
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