TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of diet on the human gut microbiome
T2 - A metagenomic analysis in humanized gnotobiotic mice
AU - Turnbaugh, Peter J.
AU - Ridaura, Vanessa K.
AU - Faith, Jeremiah J.
AU - Rey, Federico E.
AU - Knight, Rob
AU - Gordon, Jeffrey I.
PY - 2009/11/11
Y1 - 2009/11/11
N2 - Diet and nutritional status are among themost importantmodifiable determinants of human health. The nutritional value of food is influenced in part by a person's gut microbial community (microbiota) and its component genes (microbiome). Unraveling the interrelations among diet, the structure and operations of the gut microbiota, and nutrient and energy harvest is confounded by variations in human environmental exposures, microbial ecology, and genotype. To help overcome these problems, we created a well-defined, representative animal model of the human gut ecosystem by transplanting fresh or frozen adult human fecal microbial communities into germ-free C57BL/6J mice. Culture-independent metagenomic analysis of the temporal, spatial, and intergenerational patterns of bacterial colonization showed that these humanized mice were stably and heritably colonized and reproduced much of the bacterial diversity of the donor'smicrobiota. Switching from a low-fat, plant polysaccharide-rich diet to a high-fat, high-sugar "Western" diet shifted the structure of the microbiota within a single day, changed the representation of metabolic pathways in the microbiome, and altered microbiome gene expression. Reciprocal transplants involving various combinations of donor and recipient diets revealed that colonization history influences the initial structure of themicrobial community but that these effects can be rapidly altered by diet. Humanizedmice fed the Western diet have increased adiposity; this trait is transmissible via microbiota transplantation. Humanized gnotobioticmicewill be useful for conducting proof-of-principle "clinical trials" that test the effects of environmental and genetic factors on the gut microbiota and host physiology.
AB - Diet and nutritional status are among themost importantmodifiable determinants of human health. The nutritional value of food is influenced in part by a person's gut microbial community (microbiota) and its component genes (microbiome). Unraveling the interrelations among diet, the structure and operations of the gut microbiota, and nutrient and energy harvest is confounded by variations in human environmental exposures, microbial ecology, and genotype. To help overcome these problems, we created a well-defined, representative animal model of the human gut ecosystem by transplanting fresh or frozen adult human fecal microbial communities into germ-free C57BL/6J mice. Culture-independent metagenomic analysis of the temporal, spatial, and intergenerational patterns of bacterial colonization showed that these humanized mice were stably and heritably colonized and reproduced much of the bacterial diversity of the donor'smicrobiota. Switching from a low-fat, plant polysaccharide-rich diet to a high-fat, high-sugar "Western" diet shifted the structure of the microbiota within a single day, changed the representation of metabolic pathways in the microbiome, and altered microbiome gene expression. Reciprocal transplants involving various combinations of donor and recipient diets revealed that colonization history influences the initial structure of themicrobial community but that these effects can be rapidly altered by diet. Humanizedmice fed the Western diet have increased adiposity; this trait is transmissible via microbiota transplantation. Humanized gnotobioticmicewill be useful for conducting proof-of-principle "clinical trials" that test the effects of environmental and genetic factors on the gut microbiota and host physiology.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77950669604&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/scitranslmed.3000322
DO - 10.1126/scitranslmed.3000322
M3 - Article
C2 - 20368178
AN - SCOPUS:77950669604
SN - 1946-6234
VL - 1
JO - Science Translational Medicine
JF - Science Translational Medicine
IS - 6
M1 - 6ra14
ER -