The composition and distribution of gut microbiota is known to vary along the length of intestinal tract. New research published in Nature Communications is the first to show that the outer mucus layer of the large intestine is itself a distinct microbial niche. The investigators showed that bacteria species present in the outer mucus layer both proliferate and utilise resources differently, when compared with the same species found in the intestinal lumen.
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23 October 2015
In the version of this article originally published online there was an error in line four; ˮsmallˮ should have been ˮlargeˮ. The final sentence has also been changed to reflect this and now reads ˮ...when compared with the same species found in the intestinal lumenˮ.
References
Li, H. et al. The outer mucus layer hosts a distinct intestinal microbial niche. Nat. Commun. 10.1038/ncomms9292
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A new microbial niche in the intestinal outer mucus layer. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 12, 608 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2015.178
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2015.178
