A snapshot of gut microbiota of an adult urban population from Western region of India.

Abstract

The human gut microbiome contributes to a broad range of biochemical and metabolic functions that directly or indirectly affect human physiology. Several recent studies have indicated that factors like age, geographical location, genetic makeup, and individual health status significantly influence the diversity, stability, and resilience of the gut microbiome. Of the mentioned factors, geographical location (and related dietary/socio-economic context) appears to explain a significant portion of microbiome variation observed in various previously conducted base-line studies on human gut microbiome. Given this context, we have undertaken a microbiome study with the objective of cataloguing the taxonomic diversity of gut microbiomes sampled from an urban cohort from Ahmedabad city in Western India. Computational analysis of microbiome sequence data corresponding to 160 stool samples (collected from 80 healthy individuals at two time-points, 60 days apart) has indicated a Prevotella-dominated microbial community. Given that the typical diet of participants included carbohydrate and fibre-rich components (predominantly whole grains and legume-based preparations), results appear to validate the proposed correlation between diet/geography and microbiome composition. Comparative analysis of obtained gut microbiome profiles with previously published microbiome profiles from US, China, Finland, and Japan additionally reveals a distinct taxonomic and (inferred) functional niche for the sampled microbiomes.