Stereotypes About Enterotype: the Old and New Ideas

Publication date: Available online 23 April 2019Source: Genomics, Proteomics & BioinformaticsAuthor(s): Mingyue Cheng, Kang NingAbstractIn 2011, the term “enterotype” first appeared to the general public on Nature, which refers to stratification of human gut microbiota. However, with more studies on enterotypes conducted nowadays, doubts about the existence and robustness of enterotypes have also emerged. Here we reviewed current opinions about enterotypes from both conceptual and analytical points of view. We firstly illustrated the definition of the enterotype and various influence factors such as diet, administration of antibiotics, and age. Then we summarized lines of evidence that pose the concept against the enterotype, and described the current methods for enterotype analysis. Finally, we showed that the concept of enterotype has been extended into other organisms. Based on current studies on enterotypes, it has been clear that more studies on a larger scale of sample size are needed to characterize the enterotypes. Improved computational methods are also required to build sophisticated model, reflecting the dynamics and resilience of enterotypes.
Source: Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics - Category: Bioinformatics Source Type: research