microbiome

English

Etymology

micro- +‎ biome or blend of microbiota +‎ genome

Noun

microbiome (plural microbiomes)

1. (genetics) The genetic information (genomes) of a microbiota.
   • 2012 August, “Defining the Human Microbiome”, in Nutrition Reviews‎^[1], volume 70, number Suppl. 1, pages S38–S44:

     The human microbiota consists of the 10-100 trillion symbiotic microbial cells harbored by each person, primarily bacteria in the gut; the human microbiome consists of the genes these cells harbor.

   • 2018 March 26, Nicola Davis, “The human microbiome: why our microbes could be key to our health”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Your body’s microbiome is all the genes your microbiota contains, however colloquially the two terms are often used interchangeably.

2. (biology) A microbial biome, such as the community of microbes within the human gut.
   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist‎^[3], volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:

     Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.

   • 2014 June 30, Wayne Koberstein, “Second Genome”, in Life Science Leader‎^[4], volume 6, number 7, page 14:

     The microbiome creates the immediate environment for our genes as they play out their part in disease mechanisms.

   • 2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 18:

     For your community of microbes— your 'microbiome' — your body is a planet.

Derived terms

• thanatomicrobiome

Related terms

• microbiomial
• microbiota
• microgenome
• metagenomics

Translations

Translations

• German: Mikrobiom (de) n
• Hungarian: mikrobiom (hu)

Further reading

• Microbiota on Wikipedia.Wikipedia