Asian Microbiome Project Phase 1

The diet in Asia varies remarkably within the continent and differs substantially from the diet in other continents. It is our intention to characterize the Asian gut microbiota to further understand the correlation between dietary components and the profile of GI-tract microbiota, and, ultimately, their link to health and disease. Thus far, five countries joint this project and provide stool samples of different ages. Phase 1 study is focusing on fecal microbiota of children aged from 7 to 11 years old. To profile their fecal bacterial community structure, 16S rRNA gene sequences were analyzed by pyrotag sequencing method. Based on those sequence data, we address global and local variations in the fecal microbiota of Asian people.