Abstract:

To design a study involving gut microbiota, it is important to realise what information is needed. The two main questions concerning microbiota are ‘Which microbes are there?’ and ‘What are they doing?’. These questions can then be addressed by several technical approaches: 16S ribosomal RNA profiling, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics and metabolomics. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of the different approaches with their pros and cons. Furthermore, we will give an overview on the current status of sample collection and sample handling.