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Microbiol Biotechnol Rep | Volume 1, Issue 2
Page 24
November 16-17, 2017 Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Annual Congress on
Mycology and Fungal Infections
Methods for characterizing fungal communities in the human microbiome
Fungi play an integral role in the human microbiota, the sum total of all microorganisms occupying the human
body. When investigating the microbiota with high-throughput DNA sequencing approaches, fungi require
the application of specialized methods to be characterized accurately. Here, we review some of the pitfalls and
traps to avoid when analyzing combined communities of bacteria and fungi, and present methods for improving
accuracy. We show how the methods can be applied to yield insight on the role of fungi in health and disease.
Finally, we discuss the application of whole-genome shotgun metagenomic DNA sequencing to combined
communities of bacteria and fungi.
Biography
Kyle Bittinger has completed his PhD in Physical Chemistry from MIT, and started his investigations on the human microbiome at the University of Pennsylvania
in 2009. He helped to develop the widely used QIIME software for analysis of DNA sequence data. As part of the NIH Human Microbiome Project, his work
focused on the role of diet in shaping the gut microbiota in health and disease. He directs the bioinformatics group at the CHOP Microbiome Center, part of the
joint PennCHOP microbiome program.
Kyle Bittinger
University of Pennsylvania, USA