Human Gut Microbiome Research in India: A Retrospect and Future Opportunities

Dhiraj P Dhotre; Shreyas V Kumbhare; Vilas P Sinkar; Yogesh S Shouche

doi:10.16943/ptinsa/2019/49725

Dhiraj P Dhotre
Shreyas V Kumbhare
Vilas P Sinkar
Yogesh S Shouche

DOI: https://doi.org/10.16943/ptinsa/2019/49725

Keywords: Human Microbiota; Human Gut Microbiome; Indian Microbiome; Metagenomics; Microbial Diversity

Abstract

In recent years, human gut microbiome research has moved from being an area of basic research to the advance therapeutics.
After the realization of the potential role of the microbiome research in human health, several government agencies and
major pharmaceutical companies across the globe have initiated many mega projects. Human microbiome research in India
is still in its infancy and a lot needs to be done to understand and investigate the role of microbiota in shaping the overall
health and disease conditions especially in the Indian scenario. Indian population harbours tremendous genetic and cultural
diversity consistingof more than 6,000 communities and approximately 40,000 endogamous groups.Indian population
isstructured and thus endogamous group and geographical origin need to be essentially considered while making any
molecular inferences. These variations make Indian population a perfect model to study the ‘Genotype-Microbiome’
association. This articleretrospectively reviewsthe progress in Indian gut microbiome research, ranging from the population
based microbial profiling to the bacterial isolations and their genomic characterization and attempts to put forth the future
prospects in this area.

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