Microbiome Colonization

Cho I, Yamanishi S, Cox L, et al. Antibiotics in early life alter the murine colonic microbiome and adiposity. Nature. 2012 488 (7413) 621-626. 

In summary, our intestinal microbiome encodes numerous core functions of importance for the conversion of dietary phenolics, yet interindividual differences in the makeup of bacterial species that colonize our gut underlie interindividual differences in phenolic metabolism and thereby in possible health effects. In Sect. 5, we will give more details on active bacterial members and central metabolic reactions involved in phenolic conversion prior to focusing on health effects of isoflavones and lignans. 

Colonic microbiota could now be considered as a microbial organ placed within a host organism. In addition to the obvious role of the intestine in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, the human G1 tract contains a huge collection of microorganisms. Microbiota has not been fully described, but it is clear that the human gut is home for an ecosystem of around 10 -10 " bacterial cells. As a whole, the microorganisms that live inside humans are estimated to outnumber human cells by a factor of ten. And the microbiome represents overall more than 100 times the human genome [78]. 

---