Support for third-party writing assistance for this manuscript, furnished http://www.selleckchem.com/products/17-AAG(Geldanamycin).html by Miller Medical Communications, was provided by F. Hoffmann�CLa Roche Ltd.
The adult human gut is inhabited by up to 100 trillion indigenous bacteria belonging to over 1000 species, which constantly interact with themselves and their host [1]. Under healthy physiological conditions this microbiota-host symbiosis is generally mutualistic [2], providing the host with beneficial functions such as the metabolism of non-digestible compounds and supply of short chain fatty acids and vitamins, the prevention from colonization by pathogens, and the regulation of gut mucosal structure and immunity [3].

A dysbiotic microbiota however, although yet to be clearly defined, is increasingly associated with short- and long-term immunological disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases, especially Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and atopy [4]. As the neonatal gut is sterile, these beneficial functions are acquired concurrently with the initial colonization by pioneer bacteria, successive diversification and changes in population densities until a climax microbiota has established during infancy and early childhood �C a critical time window of dynamic microbiota-host interaction profoundly influencing gut and systemic health throughout life [5], [6]. Although, this initial colonization stage is characterized by heterogeneous population dynamics, Batimastat research using culture-based methods performed in the 20th century led to the still widely accepted classical colonization dogma: facultative anaerobic bacteria, mainly Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus and Enterobacteriaceae spp.