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Molecular Tools for Investigating the Gut Microbiota

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Prebiotics and Probiotics Science and Technology

Abstract

The “microbial world within us” (Zoetendal et al., 2006) is populated by a complex society of indigenous microorganisms that feature different “ethnic” populations. Those microbial cells thriving within us are estimated to outnumber human body cells by a factor of ten to one. Insights into the relation between the intestinal microbial community and its host have been gained through gnotobiology. Indeed, the influence of the gut microbiota upon human development, physiology, immunity, and nutrition has been inferred by comparing gnotoxenic and axenic murine models (Hooper et al., 1998, 2002, 2003; Hooper and Gordon, 2001).

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Abbreviations

BAC :

bacterial artificial chromosome

BD :

basal diet

Ct :

cycle threshold

DGGE :

denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

FISH :

Fluorescence in situ hybridization

FISH-FC :

FISH combined with flow cytometry

FISH-FACS :

FISH-Fluorescence activated cell sorting

HMP :

human microbiome project

MDA :

multiple displacement amplification

MGBs :

minor groove binders

NIH :

National Institutes of Health

OTUs :

operational taxonomic units

PFGE :

pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

qPCR :

quantitative real-time PCR

RDP :

ribosomal database project

RFLP :

restriction fragment length polymorphism

scFOS :

short-chain fructo-oligosaccharide

TGGE :

temporal gradient gel electrophoresis

T-RFLP :

terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism

T-RFs :

terminal restriction fragments

TTGE :

temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Christophe Lay

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  1. Christophe Lay
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  1. Department of Food Biosciences, University of Reading Whiteknights, Reading, UK

    Dimitris Charalampopoulos  & Robert A. Rastall  & 

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Lay, C. (2009). Molecular Tools for Investigating the Gut Microbiota. In: Charalampopoulos, D., Rastall, R.A. (eds) Prebiotics and Probiotics Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79058-9_2

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