The Intestinal Mycobiome of the Human Microbiome Project Healthy Cohort

The microbial eukaryotes that inhabit the human gut have been vastly understudied, especially within healthy individuals. To study the intestinal fungal microbiome (“mycobiome”) of healthy individuals, we used DNA extracted from stool samples collected for the Human Microbiome Project (HMP). We examined fungal community composition and diversity by amplifying and sequencing the internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2) and the 18S gene from the eukaryotic rRNA operon. This study aims to 1) characterize the diversity and membership of the mycobiome of healthy individuals, 2) determine the stability of the mycobiome over the course of the one-year study, 3) look for correlations between fungal and bacterial communities, and 4) look for associations of different phenotypic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, BMI, etc.) with fungal taxonomies and diversity metrics. The results of this study aid in understanding what constitutes a “normal” or “healthy” gut mycobiome and could assist in future research efforts to determine how commensal fungi may be contributing to the health of the host or the exacerbation of disease.