title: Ethnic diversity of gut microbiota: species characterization of Bacteroides fragilis group and genus Bifidobacterium in healthy Belgian adults, and comparison with data from Japanese subjects.
abstract: The composition of the human gut microbiota is related to host health, and it is thought that dietary habits may play a role in shaping this composition. Here, we examined the population size and prevalence of six predominant bacterial genera and the species compositions of genus Bifidobacterium (g-Bifid) and Bacteroides fragilis group (g-Bfra) in 42 healthy Belgian adults by quantitative PCR (qPCR) over a period of one month. The population sizes and prevalence of these bacteria were basically stable throughout the study period. The predominant g-Bifid species were Bifidobacterium adolescentis and Bifidobacterium longum ss. longum, and the predominant g-Bfra species were Bacteroides vulgatus, Bacteroides uniformis, and Bacteroides ovatus. The Belgian gut microbiota data were then compared with gut microbiota data from 46 Japanese subjects collected according to the same protocol (Matsuki et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70, 167-173, 2004). The population size and prevalence of Bifidobacterium catenulatum group were significantly lower in the Belgian gut microbiota than in the Japanese gut microbiota (P < 0.001); however, the population size and prevalence of g-Bifid did not differ. This species-level qPCR analysis will be helpful for investigating the diversity of gut microbiota among ethnic groups.
authors.affiliation: Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research, 1796 Yaho, Kunitachi-shi, Tokyo 186-8650, Japan. eiji-ishikawa@yakult.co.jp
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuki
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kushiro
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanuki
authors.forename: Ryuichiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001441:Bacteroides fragilis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001530:Belgium; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult