An enterotype is a classification of living organisms based on the bacteriological composition of their

gut microbiota Gut microbiota, gut microbiome, or gut flora are the microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses, that live in the digestive tracts of animals. The gastrointestinal metagenome is the aggregate of all the genomes of the g ...

. The discovery of three human enterotypes was announced in the April 2011 issue of ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' by Peer Bork and his associates. They found that enterotypes are not dictated by age, gender, body weight, or national divisions. There are indications that long-term diet influences enterotype. Type 1 is characterized by high levels of ''

Bacteroides ''Bacteroides'' is a genus of Gram-negative, obligate anaerobic bacteria. ''Bacteroides'' species are non endospore–forming bacilli, and may be either motile or nonmotile, depending on the species. The DNA base composition is 40–48% GC. Un ...

'', type 2 has few ''Bacteroides'' but '' Prevotella'' are common, and type 3 has high levels of '' Ruminococcus''. The value of classifying by enterotype has been challenged. In a study of gut bacteria of children in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

(in Africa), ''Prevotella'' made up 53% of the gut bacteria, but were absent in age-matched European children. Studies also indicate that long-term diet is strongly associated with the

gut microbiome Gut microbiota, gut microbiome, or gut flora are the microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses, that live in the digestive tracts of animals. The gastrointestinal metagenome is the aggregate of all the genomes of the g ...

composition—those who eat plenty of protein and animal fats typical of Western diet have predominantly ''Bacteroides'' bacteria, while for those who consume more carbohydrates, especially fibre, the ''Prevotella'' species dominate.

Chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

s have enterotypes that are compositionally analogous to those found in humans. Using longitudinal samples, researchers found that the enterotype of individual chimpanzees varied over time.

References

Bacteriology Gut flora {{Microbiology-stub