From Culture to High-Throughput Sequencing and Beyond: A Layperson's Guide to the "Omics" and Diagnostic Potential of the Microbiome

Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2017 Mar;46(1):9-17. doi: 10.1016/j.gtc.2016.09.003.

Abstract

Detailed knowledge of the community of organisms in the gut has become possible in recent years because of the development of culture-independent methods. Largely based on latest DNA sequencing platforms, it is now possible to establish the composition of the microbiota and the repertoire of biochemical functions it encodes. Variations in either or both of these parameters have been linked to intestinal and extraintestinal disease. This article summarizes how these methods are applied, with special reference to gastroenterology, and describes the achievements and future potential of microbiota analysis as a diagnostic tool.

Keywords: FMT; Gastrointestinal disease; Metagenome; Microbiome; Microbiota.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacteriological Techniques
  • Colorectal Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • DNA, Bacterial / analysis*
  • DNA, Bacterial / isolation & purification
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / genetics*
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / physiology
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / diagnosis
  • Metagenome*
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics

Substances

  • DNA, Bacterial
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S