Ethnic Differences Shape the Alpha but Not Beta Diversity of Gut Microbiota from School Children in the Absence of Environmental Differences.

ABSTRACT: Although the human gut microbiome is shaped by factors such as diet, environment, and genetic background, most studies investigating the relationship between ethnicity and microbiota have compared groups living in separate geographical locations. To isolate the effects of ethnicity on microbial diversity by minimizing environmental differences, we selected 143 school children from Han, Tibetan, and Hui populations from the same town on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau for fecal microbiome 16S rDNA sequencing. We characterized the diversity, identified signature taxa, and performed correlation analysis between diet and community composition. Firmicutes (47.61%) and Bacteroidetes (38.05%) were dominant phyla among the three ethnic groups; seven genera showed significant differences in relative ab

SUBMITTER: Liu K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7074779 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature