The Gut Microbiota of Rural Papua New Guineans: Composition, Diversity Patterns, and Ecological Processes

Although recent research revealed an impact of westernization on diversity and composition of the human gut microbiota, the exact consequences on metacommunity characteristics are insufficiently understood, and the underlying ecological mechanisms have not been elucidated. Here, we have compared the fecal microbiota of adults from two non-industrialized regions in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with that of United States (US) residents. Papua New Guineans harbor communities with greater bacterial diversity, lower inter-individual variation, vastly different abundance profiles, and bacterial lineages undetectable in US residents. A quantification of the ecological processes that govern community assembly identified…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: 76RL01830, AC05-76RL01830, DE-AC05-76RL01830, DE-AC05
• B
  Battelle

  Awards: AC05-76RL01830, DE-AC05, DE-AC05-76RL01830
• LD
  Laboratory Directed Research and Development
• PN
  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  Awards: DE-AC05-76RL01830, 76RL01830