Profiling the Gastrointestinal Microbiota

In this chapter, we provide a methodological description of the process to perform gastrointestinal (GIT) microbiota profiling on human stool samples. The process includes: (i) collection of feces, (ii) isolation of DNA from fecal community bacteria, (iii) selection of both 16S rDNA sequencing target and next-generation sequencing platform, and (iv) analysis and interpretation of sequence data. The process culminates into a comprehensive report on the GIT microbiota composition and structure that may translate into clinically actionable results.