Cited by 104Gut microbiota and healthMicrobial Community Ecology and PhysiologyOral microbiology and periodontitis research

Cultured microbes represent a substantial fraction of the human and mouse gut microbiota

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Lagkouvardos, Ilias, Overmann, Jörg, Clavel, Thomas·2017·Gut Microbes

Abstract

During the last 15 years, molecular techniques have been preferred over culture-based approaches for the study of mammalian gut microbiota, i.e. the communities of microorganisms dwelling in the intestine of mammals. The main reason is the belief that the majority of gut bacteria, especially strict anaerobes, escape cultivation. Despite numerous such statements in publications, the literature does not provide a clear overview on the subject. In the present manuscript, we highlight recent work on the cultivation of bacteria from the intestine of mammals, review the literature and provide novel data pertaining to cultured fractions of mammalian gut microbiota. These data show that, despite marked inter-sample variations, 35 to 65% of molecular species detected by sequencing have representative strains in culture.

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Crossref · 10.1080/19490976.2017.1320468

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  • A reasonably large proportion of the bacterial and archaeal component of the human microbiota has already been cultured, while viruses and fungi remain underrepresented.

    “In fact, a reasonably large proportion of the bacterial and archaeal component of our microbiota has already been cultured 41 (viruses and fungi remain underrepresented)”

    From Human microbiome myths and misconceptions (2023) · cites this paper as [41]

    The Conclusion (page unavailable) says that roughly 50% of human gut prokaryotes being cultured is a reasonable, though very rough, estimate. Figure 1 also identifies the analysis as covering gut bacteria and archaea. The citing sentence extends this gut-specific finding to the human microbiota generally; the parenthetical about viruses and fungi follows the citation and is not established by these passages. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [33]33. Noel S. Cultivation and community composition analysis of plant-adherent rumen bacteria. PhD thesis 2013. Available at: http://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/4972
  2. [48]48. Brugiroux S, Beutler M, Pfann C, Garzetti D, Ruscheweyh HJ, Diehl M, et al. Design of a defined mouse microbiota community to investigate colonization resistance mecha- nisms using a bottom-up approach. 2016; https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27869789

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Authors
Lagkouvardos, I., Overmann, J., & Clavel, T.
Affiliations
  • Technical University of Munich (DE)
  • German Center for Infection Research (DE)
  • Universitätsklinikum Aachen (DE)
Corresponding author
Clavel, Thomas
Venue
Gut Microbes
Published
2017-04-18
Volume
8
Issue
5
Pages
493-503
ISSN
  • 1949-0976 (ISSN-L)
  • 1949-0984
OpenAlex
W2606877093
Cited by
104
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 6
FWCI
1.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Gut Microbes (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SPP-1656)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
Keywords
gut microbiota, bacterial culture, human gut microbiome, mouse gut microbiome, obligate anaerobes, representative strain
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Bacteria, Humans, Mice

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