Cited by 7,548Gut microbiota and healthOral microbiology and periodontitis researchMicrobial Community Ecology and Physiology

Enterotypes of the human gut microbiome

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MetaHIT Consortium (additional members), Arumugam, Manimozhiyan, Raes, Jeroen, Pelletier, Eric, Le Paslier, Denis, Yamada, Takuji, Mende, Daniel R., Fernandes, Gabriel R. +35 more·2011·Nature

Abstract

Our knowledge of species and functional composition of the human gut microbiome is rapidly increasing, but it is still based on very few cohorts and little is known about variation across the world. By combining 22 newly sequenced faecal metagenomes of individuals from four countries with previously published data sets, here we identify three robust clusters (referred to as enterotypes hereafter) that are not nation or continent specific. We also confirmed the enterotypes in two published, larger cohorts, indicating that intestinal microbiota variation is generally stratified, not continuous. This indicates further the existence of a limited number of well-balanced host-microbial symbiotic states that might respond differently to diet and drug intake. The enterotypes are mostly driven by species composition, but abundant molecular functions are not necessarily provided by abundant species, highlighting the importance of a functional analysis to understand microbial communities. Although individual host properties such as body mass index, age, or gender cannot explain the observed enterotypes, data-driven marker genes or functional modules can be identified for each of these host properties. For example, twelve genes significantly correlate with age and three functional modules with the body mass index, hinting at a diagnostic potential of microbial markers.

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Authors
MetaHIT Consortium (additional members), Arumugam, M., Raes, J., Pelletier, E., Le Paslier, D., Yamada, T., Mende, D. R., Fernandes, G. R., Tap, J., Bruls, T., Batto, J.-M., Bertalan, M., Borruel, N., Casellas, F., Fernandez, L., Gautier, L., Hansen, T., Hattori, M., Hayashi, T., Kleerebezem, M., Kurokawa, K., Leclerc, M., Levenez, F., Manichanh, C., Nielsen, H. B., Nielsen, T., Pons, N., Poulain, J., Qin, J., Sicheritz-Ponten, T., Tims, S., Torrents, D., Ugarte, E., Zoetendal, E. G., Wang, J., Guarner, F., Pedersen, O., de Vos, W. M., Brunak, S., Doré, J., Weissenbach, J., Ehrlich, S. D., & Bork, P.
Affiliations
  • European Molecular Biology Laboratory (DE)
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
  • Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
  • Technical University of Denmark (DK)
  • Vall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari (ES)
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
  • The University of Tokyo (JP)
  • University of Miyazaki (JP)
  • Wageningen University & Research (NL)
  • Tokyo Institute of Technology (JP)
  • Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
  • BGI Group (China) (CN)
  • Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
Corresponding author
Ehrlich, S. Dusko
Venue
Nature
Published
2011-04-20
Volume
473
Issue
7346
Pages
174-180
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2032230795
Cited by
7,548
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 312 · 2025: 499 · 2024: 617 · 2023: 654 · 2022: 629 · 2021: 669 · 2020: 583 · 2019: 558 · 2018: 443 · 2017: 416 · 2016: 425 · 2015: 409 · 2014: 425 · 2013: 419 · 2012: 365
FWCI
172.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion)
  • University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • MDC Repository (Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine) (submittedVersion)
  • Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (submittedVersion)
  • Technical University of Denmark, DTU Orbit (Technical University of Denmark, DTU) (submittedVersion)
  • Tokyo Tech Research Repository (Tokyo Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • VUBIR (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (076964, 082372)
  • Novo Nordisk Fonden (NNF10CC1016517)
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (221S0002)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K24DK002800)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
Keywords
enterotypes, human gut microbiome, microbial community clustering, host-microbe symbiosis, body mass index, cross-cohort validation, microbial biomarkers
MeSH terms
Bacteria, Europe, Feces, Female, Humans, Intestines, Male, Phylogeny, Bacterial Typing Techniques, Biomarkers, Biodiversity, Metagenome, Metagenomics

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