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Early Gut Microbiome and Polymicrobial Infection

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Metagenomics

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Synonyms

Microbial community colonizing the gut of newborn infants and its role in disease

Definition

Microbiome: vast numbers of microorganisms in a given environment; in this entry, the gut of neonates.

Polymicrobial disease: several microorganisms implicated in the pathogenesis of disease.

Introduction

The recent rise of “omic” technologies has led to an expansive lexicon of terms, suffixed by -ome. One such term, which is receiving more attention than most, is “microbiome.” The microbiome refers to the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms colonizing the human body. Although some controversy surrounds the original appearance of the term, Joshua Lederberg is generally accredited with the initial coinage (Lederberg and McCray 2001). This entry will focus on the importance of the microbiome in health and disease, specifically related to the temporal development of the bacterial community in the gut following birth.

Methods to Elucidate the Gut...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Northumbria, Ellison Building D216, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK

    Christopher Stewart

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  1. Christopher Stewart
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Correspondence to Christopher Stewart .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), Rockville, Maryland, USA

    Karen E. Nelson

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Stewart, C. (2013). Early Gut Microbiome and Polymicrobial Infection. In: Nelson, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Metagenomics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6418-1_798-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6418-1_798-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6418-1

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