title: The intestinal metabolome: an intersection between microbiota and host.
abstract: Recent advances that allow us to collect more data on DNA sequences and metabolites have increased our understanding of connections between the intestinal microbiota and metabolites at a whole-systems level. We can also now better study the effects of specific microbes on specific metabolites. Here, we review how the microbiota determines levels of specific metabolites, how the metabolite profile develops in infants, and prospects for assessing a person's physiological state based on their microbes and/or metabolites. Although data acquisition technologies have improved, the computational challenges in integrating data from multiple levels remain formidable; developments in this area will significantly improve our ability to interpret current and future data sets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado.
authors.forename: Luke K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Ursell
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Arts and Sciences Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Henry J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Haiser
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Van Treuren
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pharmacology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
authors.forename: Neha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Lavanya
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reddivari
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Jairam
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vanamala
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pharmacology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
authors.forename: Pieter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Dorrestein
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Arts and Sciences Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Turnbaugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado; BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boulder, Colorado. Electronic address: rob.knight@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knight
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods; D064307:Microbiota; D049490:Systems Biology
keywords: Bacteria; Data Analysis; Metabolomics; Systems Biology