13 Healthy Human Gut Metagenomes

Numerous microbes inhabit the human intestine, many of which are uncharacterized or uncultivable. They form a complex microbial community that deeply affects human physiology. To identify the genomic features common to all human gut microbiomes as well as those variable among them, we performed a large-scale comparative metagenomic analysis of fecal samples from 13 healthy individuals of various ages, including unweaned infants. All the subjects were healthy Japanese individuals. All subjects or their parents were informed of the purpose and protocol of this study. None of the subjects were given dietary restrictions except for antibiotics, probiotics, fermented foods (fermented beans, yogurt, etc.), and well-known functional foods for at least 4 weeks prior to sampling. None had a history of gastrointestinal disorder at the time of sampling, and none had unusual eating behaviors.