Microbiota composition

Microbiota composition describes the identity, abundance, and diversity of microbes (including bacteria, archaea, viruses, and fungi) present at a given anatomical or environmental site. Its assessment is central to understanding host-microbe interactions, metabolic and immune regulation, and disease mechanisms. Changes in microbiota composition—termed dysbiosis—have been linked to numerous diseases, and therapies now exist to manipulate these communities via antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and interventions such as fecal microbiota transplantation. However, microbiota composition is not itself a molecular target, but rather a community-level metric, used to design and evaluate therapeutic approaches, identify biomarkers, and monitor efficacy and safety in translational research[1][2][3][4][5][6].

Other names

microbial community compositionmicrobial taxa abundancemicrobial diversity

The mechanism of action for interventions targeting microbiota composition involves the alteration of microbial abundance and diversity, selective elimination of pathogenic taxa, addition of beneficial microorganisms, and modulation of microbial metabolic activities.