High-frequency time series sampling of salivary microbiome - lunch

The oral microbiome is linked to oral and systemic health, but its fluctuation under frequent daily activities remains elusive. We sampled saliva at an unprecedented frequency to track the microbiome dynamics in response to human activities. We identified specific bacteria responding to eating activity in a temporal order (see qiita study ID 14062). Here, to investigate whether microbial patterns are reproducible in a large cohort, we performed a lunch experiment where we collected saliva samples from 19 subjects before and while they ate lunch. The microbial eating-increased, eating-decreased and temporal patterns were all repeated in most subjects, implying that the eating-responsive bacteria respond to eating activity consistently in populations.