The human gut is home to trillions of microorganisms (the microbiome), a vast community that helps shape digestion, immune function and metabolism. Now, researchers led by the University of Vienna have found that many gut bacterial species are more complex than they appear.
Using an analytical strategy known as 'reverse ecology,' the team showed that individual bacterial species can contain several evolutionarily distinct populations, each adapted to different conditions inside the gut. Some of these populations were associated with advanced age, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes.
The findings, published in Nature, could help scientists identify more precise microbiome biomarkers and may eventually support treatments aimed at specific bacterial populations rather than entire species.
Looking Beyond Bacterial Species
Most microbiome research groups bacteria by species or by broad genetic similarity. These categories are useful, but they can overlook important differences between populations that have adapted to different environments within the human body.
