Molecular biological methods for studying the gut microbiota: the EU human gut flora project

Molecular biological methods for studying the gut microbiota: the EU human gut flora project.

Seven European laboratories co-operated in a joint project (FAIR CT97-3035) to develop, refine and apply molecular methods towards facilitating elucidation of the complex composition of the human intestinal microflora and to devise robust methodologies for monitoring the gut flora in response to diet. An extensive database of 16S rRNA sequences for tracking intestinal bacteria was generated by ...

Application of molecular biological methods for studying probiotics and the gut flora.

Increasingly, the microbiological scientific community is relying on molecular biology to define the complexity of the gut flora and to distinguish one organism from the next. This is particularly pertinent in the field of probiotics, and probiotic therapy, where identifying probiotics from the commensal flora is often warranted. Current techniques, including genetic fingerprinting, gene sequen...

Impact of the Gut Microbiota on Vaccine Responses

Non-responsiveness or poor responsiveness to vaccines are challenging issues in vaccine development, and efforts have been made to find out the potential reasons for these conditions. Intestinal microbiome plays a key role in regulating and development of immune system and the composition and diversity of microbiota in different individuals on the one hand, and the imbalance of intestinal micro...

Gut Microbiota and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Manipulating the Gut Flora

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract represents a complex ecosystem in which a balance exists between the intestinal microflora and the host. The microflora comprises predominantly of facultative anaerobes e.g. lactobacillus and obligate anaerobes e.g. bifidobacterium. Aerobic organisms are not present in the GI tract of healthy individuals except Pseudomonas in very small numbers. Most of the gut m...