HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Furrie, E Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Furrie, E Topic Collections Relevant Article

A molecular revolution in the study of intestinal microflora

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr E Furrie
Department of Immunology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK; e.furrie{at}dundee.ac.uk

Bacterial colonisers of the colon comprise several hundred bacterial species that live in a complex ecosystem. Study of this complex ecosystem has been carried out, until recently, by traditional culture techniques with biochemical methods to identify organisms. The development of molecular techniques to investigate ecological microbial communities has provided the microbiologist with a vast array of new techniques to investigate human intestinal microflora. Metagenomics, the science of biological diversity, combines the use of molecular biology and genetics to identify and characterise genetic material from complex microbial environments. The combination of metagenomics and subsequent quantitation of each identified species using molecular techniques allows the relatively rapid analysis of whole bacterial populations in human health and disease

Abbreviations: IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; rDNA, ribosomal DNA; qPCR, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; metagenome; faecal microbiota; phylogeny; Firmicutes

Relevant Article

Reduced diversity of faecal microbiota in Crohn’s disease revealed by a metagenomic approach

C Manichanh, L Rigottier-Gois, E Bonnaud, K Gloux, E Pelletier, L Frangeul, R Nalin, C Jarrin, P Chardon, P Marteau, J Roca, and J Dore
Gut 2006 55: 205-211. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				O. Vaarala, M. A. Atkinson, and J. Neu The "Perfect Storm" for Type 1 Diabetes: The Complex Interplay Between Intestinal Microbiota, Gut Permeability, and Mucosal Immunity Diabetes, October 1, 2008; 57(10): 2555 - 2562. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Penders, C. Thijs, P. A van den Brandt, I. Kummeling, B. Snijders, F. Stelma, H. Adams, R. van Ree, and E. E Stobberingh Gut microbiota composition and development of atopic manifestations in infancy: the KOALA Birth Cohort Study Gut, May 1, 2007; 56(5): 661 - 667. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Dicksved, H. Floistrup, A. Bergstrom, M. Rosenquist, G. Pershagen, A. Scheynius, S. Roos, J. S. Alm, L. Engstrand, C. Braun-Fahrlander, et al. Molecular Fingerprinting of the Fecal Microbiota of Children Raised According to Different Lifestyles Appl. Envir. Microbiol., April 1, 2007; 73(7): 2284 - 2289. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]