Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome

Curtis Huttenhower, Dirk Gevers, Rob Knight, Sahar Abubucker, Jonathan H. Badger, Asif T. Chinwalla, Heather H. Creasy, Ashlee M. Earl, Michael G. Fitzgerald, Robert S. Fulton, Michelle G. Giglio, Kymberlie Hallsworth-Pepin, Elizabeth A. Lobos, Ramana Madupu, Vincent Magrini, John C. Martin, Makedonka Mitreva, Donna M. Muzny, Erica J. Sodergren, James VersalovicAye M. Wollam, Kim C. Worley, Jennifer R. Wortman, Sarah K. Young, Qiandong Zeng, Kjersti M. Aagaard, Olukemi O. Abolude, Emma Allen-Vercoe, Eric J. Alm, Lucia Alvarado, Gary L. Andersen, Scott Anderson, Elizabeth Appelbaum, Harindra M. Arachchi, Gary Armitage, Cesar A. Arze, Tulin Ayvaz, Carl C. Baker, Lisa Begg, Tsegahiwot Belachew, Veena Bhonagiri, Monika Bihan, Martin J. Blaser, Toby Bloom, Vivien Bonazzi, J. Paul Brooks, Gregory A. Buck, Christian J. Buhay, Dana A. Busam, Joseph L. Campbell, Shane R. Canon, Brandi L. Cantarel, Patrick S.G. Chain, I. Min A. Chen, Lei Chen, Shaila Chhibba, Ken Chu, Dawn M. Ciulla, Jose C. Clemente, Sandra W. Clifton, Sean Conlan, Jonathan Crabtree, Mary A. Cutting, Noam J. Davidovics, Catherine C. Davis, Todd Z. Desantis, Carolyn Deal, Kimberley D. Delehaunty, Floyd E. Dewhirst, Elena Deych, Yan Ding, David J. Dooling, Shannon P. Dugan, Wm Michael Dunne, A. Scott Durkin, Robert C. Edgar, Rachel L. Erlich, Candace N. Farmer, Ruth M. Farrell, Karoline Faust, Michael Feldgarden, Victor M. Felix, Sheila Fisher, Anthony A. Fodor, Larry J. Forney, Leslie Foster, Valentina Di Francesco, Jonathan Friedman, Dennis C. Friedrich, Catrina C. Fronick, Lucinda L. Fulton, Hongyu Gao, Nathalia Garcia, Georgia Giannoukos, Christina Giblin, Maria Y. Giovanni, Jonathan M. Goldberg, Johannes Goll, Antonio Gonzalez, Allison Griggs, Sharvari Gujja, Susan Kinder Haake, Brian J. Haas, Holli A. Hamilton, Emily L. Harris, Theresa A. Hepburn, Brandi Herter, Diane E. Hoffmann, Michael E. Holder, Clinton Howarth, Katherine H. Huang, Susan M. Huse, Jacques Izard, Janet K. Jansson, Huaiyang Jiang, Catherine Jordan, Vandita Joshi, James A. Katancik, Wendy A. Keitel, Scott T. Kelley, Cristyn Kells, Nicholas B. King, Dan Knights, Heidi H. Kong, Omry Koren, Sergey Koren, Karthik C. Kota, Christie L. Kovar, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Patricio S. La Rosa, Sandra L. Lee, Katherine P. Lemon, Niall Lennon, Cecil M. Lewis, Lora Lewis, Ruth E. Ley, Kelvin Li, Konstantinos Liolios, Bo Liu, Yue Liu, Chien Chi Lo, Catherine A. Lozupone, R. Dwayne Lunsford, Tessa Madden, Anup A. Mahurkar, Peter J. Mannon, Elaine R. Mardis, Victor M. Markowitz, Konstantinos Mavromatis, Jamison M. McCorrison, Daniel McDonald, Jean McEwen, Amy L. McGuire, Pamela McInnes, Teena Mehta, Kathie A. Mihindukulasuriya, Jason R. Miller, Patrick J. Minx, Irene Newsham, Chad Nusbaum, Michelle Oglaughlin, Joshua Orvis, Ioanna Pagani, Krishna Palaniappan, Shital M. Patel, Matthew Pearson, Jane Peterson, Mircea Podar, Craig Pohl, Katherine S. Pollard, Mihai Pop, Margaret E. Priest, Lita M. Proctor, Xiang Qin, Jeroen Raes, Jacques Ravel, Jeffrey G. Reid, Mina Rho, Rosamond Rhodes, Kevin P. Riehle, Maria C. Rivera, Beltran Rodriguez-Mueller, Yu Hui Rogers, Matthew C. Ross, Carsten Russ, Ravi K. Sanka, Pamela Sankar, J. Fah Sathirapongsasuti, Jeffery A. Schloss, Patrick D. Schloss, Thomas M. Schmidt, Matthew Scholz, Lynn Schriml, Alyxandria M. Schubert, Nicola Segata, Julia A. Segre, William D. Shannon, Richard R. Sharp, Thomas J. Sharpton, Narmada Shenoy, Nihar U. Sheth, Gina A. Simone, Indresh Singh, Christopher S. Smillie, Jack D. Sobel, Daniel D. Sommer, Paul Spicer, Granger G. Sutton, Sean M. Sykes, Diana G. Tabbaa, Mathangi Thiagarajan, Chad M. Tomlinson, Manolito Torralba, Todd J. Treangen, Rebecca M. Truty, Tatiana A. Vishnivetskaya, Jason Walker, Lu Wang, Zhengyuan Wang, Doyle V. Ward, Wesley Warren, Mark A. Watson, Christopher Wellington, Kris A. Wetterstrand, James R. White, Katarzyna Wilczek-Boney, Yuanqing Wu, Kristine M. Wylie, Todd Wylie, Chandri Yandava, Liang Ye, Yuzhen Ye, Shibu Yooseph, Bonnie P. Youmans, Lan Zhang, Yanjiao Zhou, Yiming Zhu, Laurie Zoloth, Jeremy D. Zucker, Bruce W. Birren, Richard A. Gibbs, Sarah K. Highlander, Barbara A. Methé, Karen E. Nelson, Joseph F. Petrosino, George M. Weinstock, Richard K. Wilson, Owen White

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7892 Scopus citations

Abstract

Studies of the human microbiome have revealed that even healthy individuals differ remarkably in the microbes that occupy habitats such as the gut, skin and vagina. Much of this diversity remains unexplained, although diet, environment, host genetics and early microbial exposure have all been implicated. Accordingly, to characterize the ecology of human-associated microbial communities, the Human Microbiome Project has analysed the largest cohort and set of distinct, clinically relevant body habitats so far. We found the diversity and abundance of each habitat's signature microbes to vary widely even among healthy subjects, with strong niche specialization both within and among individuals. The project encountered an estimated 81-99% of the genera, enzyme families and community configurations occupied by the healthy Western microbiome. Metagenomic carriage of metabolic pathways was stable among individuals despite variation in community structure, and ethnic/racial background proved to be one of the strongest associations of both pathways and microbes with clinical metadata. These results thus delineate the range of structural and functional configurations normal in the microbial communities of a healthy population, enabling future characterization of the epidemiology, ecology and translational applications of the human microbiome.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)207-214
Number of pages8
JournalNature
Volume486
Issue number7402
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 14 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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