Enterotyping

Enterotyping identifies and characterizes enterotypes in microbiome datasets to stratify human individuals by gut microbial community composition.

Key Features:

• Identification of Enterotypes: Identifies three robust clusters (enterotypes) consistent across diverse populations, suggesting a universal stratification of intestinal microbiota (PMID: 21508958).
• Functional Analysis Emphasis: Emphasizes functional analysis to show that abundant molecular functions may not always correlate with abundant species, underscoring the need for functional profiling beyond species composition (PMID: 21508958).
• Diagnostic Potential: Detects data-driven marker genes and functional modules associated with host properties, reporting twelve genes correlated with age and three functional modules correlated with body mass index (PMID: 21508958).
• Population Stratification: Provides a framework for population stratification in microbiome research to inform analyses of human health and wellbeing (PMID: 29255284).
• Reconciliation of Views: Integrates various methods for dividing microbiome configurations and places enterotype concepts within functional, ecological, and medical contexts (PMID: 29255284).

Scientific Applications:

• Microbiome Research: Characterizing species- and function-level composition of the human gut microbiome across global populations.
• Clinical Practice: Identifying microbial markers and enterotypes that may inform diagnostics and stratified treatment approaches.
• Dietary and Drug Response Studies: Stratifying individuals into enterotypes to study differential responses to dietary interventions and drug intake.

Methodology:

Computational detection of enterotypes as densely populated regions in high-dimensional community-composition space (identification of three robust clusters), identification of data-driven marker genes and functional modules associated with host properties (age, body mass index), and integration of multiple methods for dividing microbiome configurations (PMID: 21508958; PMID: 29255284).