Key concepts about microbiota

A microbiota is a community of micro-organisms (bacteria, yeasts, fungi, viruses) living in a specific environment. There is therefore a soil microbiota and an ocean microbiota, but also a number of microbiota associated with the human body: skin microbiota, vaginal microbiota, etc. and the one that has been studied most closely, the intestinal microbiota.

Every individual has an intestinal microbiota that is specific to them, comprised of about 160 different bacterial species.

The various microbiota play important roles for our health

10,000 billion
the number of bacteria
in the intestinal
microbiota
540,000
the average
number of
microbial genes
that we host
160
the number of
different bacterial
species which
make up
the microbiota of
a healthy individual