Characterization of the fecal microbiota differs between age groups in Koreans

nutrition, antibiotic use, and lifestyle, with variations among ethnicities and countries.[4][5][6] The gut microbiota is associated with the regulation of metabolic pathways such as host-microbiota metabolism, signaling, and immune responses that connect the gut, liver, muscle, and brain.7 In addition, dysbiosis of microbial communities in both adults and infants has been shown to be linked to several functional gut disorders including obesity, IBD, type 1 diabetes, autism, necrotizing enterocolitis, and gastric and colon cancers.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Several lines of evidence have shown that an abnormal increase or decrease in certain bacteria is associated with health and disease in humans.[14][15][16][17][18] Based on these reports, 4 putative genera, Bifidobacterium , Lactobacillus , Bacteroides , and Clostridium, were chosen for analysis.As the gut microbiota plays an essential role in influencing the health of the host, it is important to first understand what constitutes a "healthy" gut microbiome.However, the majority of studies in the literature focusing on the characterization and assembly of