Reference genome for the Human Microbiome Project

Clostridium sp. L2-50. Clostridium sp. L2-50, a butyrate-producing isolate, is a member of the human gut flora. In one comprehensive 16S rDNA sequence-based enumeration of the colonic microbiota of three healthy adult humans it represents, on average, 0.059% of all 16S rDNA sequences and 0.117% of the sequences in its division (Eckburg et. al. (2005)). This strain is part of a comprehensive, sequence-based survey of members of the normal human gut microbiota. A joint effort of the WU-GSC and the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine, the purpose of this survey is to provide the general scientific community with a broad view of the gene content of 100 representatives of the major divisions represented in the intestine's microbial community. This information should provide a frame of reference for analyzing metagenomic studies of the human gut microbiome.