Intestinal microbiota

5 important questions on Intestinal microbiota

What are the microbiota's contributions?

Degradation of (undigested) diet components
- extra energy, SCFAs
Production of specific nutrients
- essential nutrients: vitamins, amino acids, co-factors etc.;
Removal or conversion of damaging components 
Training and modulation of host immune system
- maintenance of barrier;
Colonization-resistance of pathogens
- competitition for space.

What are the microbiota's challenges?

All microbiota are opportunistic;
Risk of infection;
Damaging bacterial metabolic products;
Immune system dysbalance.

What do the microbiota consist of?

It is dominated by bacteria and there are small populations of Archaea and Eukarya (yeast and fungi).

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What are the microbiota population number throughout the GI tract?

Stomach: 10^0 - 10^4 bact/ml
SI:          10^4 - 10^8 bact/ml
Colon:     10^10 - 10^11 bact/ml

How many cells and genes are of microbial origin in a host?

Cell: 10-fold of human cells: 90%
Genes: 100-fold of human genes: 99%

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

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