title: Correlation of rRNA gene amplicon pyrosequencing and bacterial culture for microbial compositional analysis of faecal samples from elderly Irish subjects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this investigation was to establish the degree of correlation between measurements from culture-dependent microbiological techniques and from next generation sequencing technologies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data generated by both techniques were collected from faecal samples from 185 elderly Irish people involved in the ongoing ELDERMET study (http://eldermet.ucc.ie). The results for three groups of intestinal bacteria were compared. Bifidobacterium sp., Lactobacillus sp. and Enterobacteriaceae were enumerated on selective media through culture-dependent techniques, whereas proportions of these bacteria were determined through sequencing technology against the background of other bacteria. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient determined a good correlation between results from culture-dependent microbiology and culture-independent techniques for all three bacterial groups assessed (correlation coefficients for Bifidobacterium sp., Lactobacillus sp. and Enterobacteriaceae were 0·380, 0·366 and 0·437, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Correlation between the two methods implies that a single method is capable of profiling intestinal Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Enterobacteriaceae populations. However, both methods have advantages that justify their use in tandem.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first extensive study to compare bacterial counts from culture-dependent microbiological techniques and from next generation sequencing technologies.
authors: Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland.
authors: Ó
authors: Ó
authors: O'Sullivan
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Coakley
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Lakshminarayanan
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Claesson
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Stanton
authors: P W
authors: PW
authors: O'Toole
authors: R P
authors: RP
authors: Ross
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D019295:Computational Biology; D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial