gut microbiota composition within multi-regional stool samples from a healthy adult

The composition of the gut microbiome can be considered as a complex ecosystem, with variations in the microbiome affected by a number of host and environmental factors. Several studies investigate the covariates that influence its structure and function, and find potential variables including diet, lifestyle, race, medication, and disease. These novel findings elucidate gut microbiota variations between inter-populations, and disentangle multiple confounding factors shaping human gut microbiome composition. Although most of the previous reports discussed 'inter'-individual gut microbiota variations, those within 'intra'-individual are less well understood. Then, we investigated whether human gut microbiota profiles within intra-stool sample are homogenous or heterogenous.