Gut microbiota strain richness is species specific and affects engraftment.

ABSTRACT: Despite the fundamental role of bacterial strain variation in gut microbiota function^1-6, the number of unique strains of a species that can stably colonize the human intestine is still unknown for almost all species. Here we determine the strain richness (SR) of common gut species using thousands of sequenced bacterial isolates with paired metagenomes. We show that SR varies across species, is transferable by faecal microbiota transplantation, and is uniquely low in the gut compared with soil and lake environments. Active therapeutic administration of supraphysiologic numbers of strains per species increases recipient SR, which then converges back to the population average after dosing is ceased. Stratifying engraftment outcomes by high or low SR shows that SR predicts microbia

SUBMITTER: Chen-Liaw A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12547691 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature