El Kaoutari A. auteur aut IRD Armougom Fabrice auteur aut IRD Leroy Q. auteur aut IRD Vialettes B. auteur aut IRD Million M. auteur aut IRD Raoult D. auteur aut IRD Henrissat B. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Distal gut bacteria play a pivotal role in the digestion of dietary polysaccharides by producing a large number of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) that the host otherwise does not produce. We report here the design of a custom microarray that we used to spot non-redundant DNA probes for more than 6,500 genes encoding glycoside hydrolases and lyases selected from 174 reference genomes from distal gut bacteria. The custom microarray was tested and validated by the hybridization of bacterial DNA extracted from the stool samples of lean, obese and anorexic individuals. Our results suggest that a microarray-based study can detect genes from low-abundance bacteria better than metagenomic-based studies. A striking example was the finding that a gene encoding a GH6-family cellulase was present in all subjects examined, whereas metagenomic studies have consistently failed to detect this gene in both human and animal gut microbiomes. In addition, an examination of eight stool samples allowed the identification of a corresponding CAZome core containing 46 families of glycoside hydrolases and polysaccharide lyases, which suggests the functional stability of the gut microbiota despite large taxonomical variations between individuals. specialized 054 020 084 8 12 e84033 2013 1932-6203 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010061468 10.1371/journal.pone.0084033 1932-6203 [F B010061468] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010061468 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers17-10/010061468.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2014-03-03 2025-06-13 fdi:010061468 fre