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The Prokaryotes pp 3–24Cite as

The Gut Microbiota

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Abstract

The most densely populated microbial ecosystem that colonizes the human body is located in the gut and is commonly referred to as gut microbiota. This microbial community encompasses trillions of bacteria with an estimated biomass of 1.5 kg, a size that is similar to the liver, the largest organ in the body. It is tempting to consider the gut microbiota as an organ itself, composed of 1,000–1,200 cell types (species) that encode 150-fold more genes (microbiome) than we have in our own genome. The gut microbiota is highly dynamic and exhibits temporal (age) and spatial (along and across the length of the gut) variations. Furthermore, the intestinal microbial composition is responsive to host genetics, diet, ingested drugs, and a wide number of other environmental factors. The gut microbiota plays a fundamental role in human health, as it evolved specific functions that complement human metabolism and physiology. As an example, intestinal bacteria exhibit specific functions involved in fermentation of polysaccharides to bioavailable nutrients that may also act as signaling component. Moreover, intestinal bacteria take part in vitamin production, regulation of hormone synthesis, and maturation of the immune system. Hence, dysbiosis of the gut microbiota has been implicated in many human diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, diabetes, and celiac disease.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Anna Hallén for providing Figs. 1.1 , 1.2 , and 1.5 .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sahlgrenska Center for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research/Wallenberg Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Petia Kovatcheva-Datchary, Valentina Tremaroli & Fredrik Bäckhed

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  1. Petia Kovatcheva-Datchary
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  2. Valentina Tremaroli
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  3. Fredrik Bäckhed
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Correspondence to Petia Kovatcheva-Datchary .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  2. Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Edward F. DeLong

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Stephen Lory

  4. Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany

    Erko Stackebrandt

  5. Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Fabiano Thompson

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Kovatcheva-Datchary, P., Tremaroli, V., Bäckhed, F. (2013). The Gut Microbiota. In: Rosenberg, E., DeLong, E.F., Lory, S., Stackebrandt, E., Thompson, F. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30144-5_87

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