The gut microbiome is a dense and metabolically active consortium of microorganisms and viruses located in the lower gastrointestinal tract of the human body. Bacteria and their viruses (phages) are the most abundant members of the gut microbiome. Investigating their biology and the interplay between the two is important if we are to understand their roles in human health and disease. In this review, we summarize recent advances in resolving the taxonomic structure and ecological functions of the complex community of phages in the human gut-the gut phageome. We discuss how age, diet, and geography can all have a significant impact on phageome composition. We note that alterations to the gut phageome have been observed in several diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and colorectal cancer, and we evaluate whether these phageome changes can directly or indirectly contribute to disease etiology and pathogenesis. We also highlight how lack of standardization in studying the gut phageome has contributed to variation in reported results.
Keywords: bacteriophage; disease; gut microbiome; health; virome.