Project
Core Microbiota Of Human Intestinal Tract
The human gut microbiome is a unique ecological landscape with various features such as hills and valleys corresponding to unstable intermediate states and alternative stable states. The intermediate unstable and alternative stable state may include both healthy and disease states (Lahti et al., 2014). We analysed the gut microbiota composition of more than 1000 Western Adults and identified several bacterial taxa that form the Phylogenetic Core and are shared among healthy adults and relatively reduced in abundance or decreased prevalence in unhealthy adults (Shetty SA, et al., 2017).
Taking our culture independent observations further, we aim to culture the "yet-to-be cultured" bacteria that were detected only using molecular methods. The other aspect of this project is to understand physiological role of core taxa that have already been cultured but have not been studied intensively for their role in human gut microbiome. This part of the project includes basic anaerobic microbiology experiments and genomics and proteomics.
There is a possibility for bachelor's and master's students to be a part of the team and do their thesis/internship within the framework of this project.
References
Intestinal microbiome landscaping: insight in community assemblage and implications for microbial modulation strategies. Shetty SA, Hugenholtz F, Lahti L, Smidt H, de Vos WM FEMS Microbiology Reviews, fuw045, 41, 2017, 182–199.