Bacterial identification and analytic challenges in clinical microbiome studies

• Published in: Journal of allergy and clinical immunology Vol. 129; no. 2; pp. 441 - 442
• Main Authors: Harris, J. Kirk, Wagner, Brandie D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Mosby, Inc 01.02.2012; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Allergy and Immunology; Community; Eczema - microbiology; feature selection; Female; Genetic diversity; Humans; Hypersensitivity - microbiology; Intestines - microbiology; Male; Microbiome; Organisms; statistics; Studies; Taxonomy; feature selection; Microbiome; statistics
• ISSN: 0091-6749; 1097-6825; 1097-6825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2011.12.969

The importance of the human microbiome is rapidly emerging.1 Our bodies host complex communities of microbes with much greater genetic diversity than our own genome.2 This complexity is variable across subjects,3 and there is still much to learn about the processes that drive the establishment and maintenance of these communities.4 More importantly, these communities fundamentally affect the normal function of our bodies and thus are critical to understand as modifiers of human processes, including disease.5,6 The gut is an important interface with the environment and a major source of antigen exposure throughout life.7 In this issue of the Journal, Abrahamsson et al8 report on the relationship between bacterial diversity in the gut and the development of IgE-positive atopic eczema in the article entitled "Low diversity of the gut microbiota in infants with atopic eczema." The analysis at various taxonomic levels to identify lineages differing between groups is an interesting approach to attempt to uncover the contribution of related organisms to the difference seen in diversity.