Human Microbiome 100 most wanted genomes
The human body is home to an enormous number and diversity of microbes. These microbes, our microbiome, are increasingly thought to be required for normal human development, physiology, immunity, and nutrition. The mission of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) is to generate resources to describe these microbial communities and to analyze their role in health and disease. As part of this effort, the HMP will sequence, at minimum, 3000 bacterial genomes that represent both major and minor constituents of the human microbiome.
Currently, there are over 1000 bacterial genomes at various stages of sequencing through HMP and, yet, we are still far from covering the breadth of phylogenetic diversity present within the microbiome of humans. While we continue to solicit feedback and strains for sequencing from the scientific community, not all human-associated microbes are currently cultivated or are capable of being cultivated using standard methods. However, recent advances in culture- and single cell-based techniques are making access to these hard-to-culture members of the microbiome possible.
We have identified not-yet-sequenced members of the microbiome using methods that incorporate both the 16S-centric and whole genome shotgun metagenomic- surveys of 200 ‘normal’ volunteers. Data from each of 18 different body sites were examined and organisms to be targeted using culture- and single cell-based approaches were prioritized based on their distance from already sequenced strains, overall abundance and frequency among samples.
The resulting HMP ‘100 Most Wanted’ list is a resource for the community interested in isolating and sequencing novel and previously un-sequenced organisms found in association with humans.
Download V1V3 Abundant OTU files as a zipped directory (252 MB)
Download V3V5 Abundant OTU files as a zipped directory (277 MB)