Wang Wei-Lin, Xu Shao-Yan, Ren Zhi-Gang, Tao Liang, Jiang Jian-Wen, Zheng Shu-Sen
Wei-Lin Wang, Shao-Yan Xu, Zhi-Gang Ren, Liang Tao, Jian-Wen Jiang, Shu-Sen Zheng, Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, Zhejiang Province, China.
World J Gastroenterol. 2015 Jan 21;21(3):803-14. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i3.803.
There are more than 1000 microbial species living in the complex human intestine. The gut microbial community plays an important role in protecting the host against pathogenic microbes, modulating immunity, regulating metabolic processes, and is even regarded as an endocrine organ. However, traditional culture methods are very limited for identifying microbes. With the application of molecular biologic technology in the field of the intestinal microbiome, especially metagenomic sequencing of the next-generation sequencing technology, progress has been made in the study of the human intestinal microbiome. Metagenomics can be used to study intestinal microbiome diversity and dysbiosis, as well as its relationship to health and disease. Moreover, functional metagenomics can identify novel functional genes, microbial pathways, antibiotic resistance genes, functional dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiome, and determine interactions and co-evolution between microbiota and host, though there are still some limitations. Metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics represent enormous complements to the understanding of the human gut microbiome. This review aims to demonstrate that metagenomics can be a powerful tool in studying the human gut microbiome with encouraging prospects. The limitations of metagenomics to be overcome are also discussed. Metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics in relation to the study of the human gut microbiome are also briefly discussed.
复杂的人体肠道中生活着1000多种微生物。肠道微生物群落对于保护宿主免受病原微生物侵害、调节免疫、调控代谢过程发挥着重要作用，甚至被视为一个内分泌器官。然而，传统培养方法在鉴定微生物方面非常有限。随着分子生物学技术在肠道微生物组领域的应用，特别是下一代测序技术的宏基因组测序，人类肠道微生物组的研究取得了进展。宏基因组学可用于研究肠道微生物组的多样性和失调，以及其与健康和疾病的关系。此外，功能宏基因组学可以识别新的功能基因、微生物途径、抗生素抗性基因、肠道微生物组的功能失调，并确定微生物群与宿主之间的相互作用和共同进化，尽管仍存在一些局限性。宏转录组学、宏蛋白质组学和代谢组学是对人类肠道微生物组理解的巨大补充。本综述旨在证明宏基因组学可以成为研究人类肠道微生物组的有力工具，前景令人鼓舞。同时也讨论了宏基因组学有待克服的局限性。还简要讨论了与人类肠道微生物组研究相关的宏转录组学、宏蛋白质组学和代谢组学。
