Prospects for systems biology and modeling of the gut microbiome

• Abundant microorganisms that inhabit the human intestine are implicated in health and disease. The gut microbiome has been studied with metagenomic tools, and over 3 million genes have been discovered, constituting a 'parts list' of this ecosystem; further understanding requires studies of the interacting parts. Mouse models have provided a glimpse into the microbiota and host interactions at metabolic and immunologic levels; however, to provide more insight, there is a need to generate mathematical models that can reveal genotype-phenotype relationships and provide scaffolds for integrated analyses. To this end, we propose the use of genome-scale metabolic models that have successfully been used in studying interactions between human hosts and microbes, as well as microbes in isolation and in communities.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Industriell bioteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Industrial Biotechnology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

metabolic

butyrate

bacterial mutualism

receptor

diet-induced obesity

chain fatty-acids

human colonic microbiota

protein-coupled

reconstruction

networks

high-throughput

inflammatory bowel diseases

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)