gutMEGA: a database of the human gut MEtaGenome Atlas

The gut microbiota plays important roles in human health through regulating both physiological homeostasis and disease emergence. The accumulation of metagenomic sequencing studies enables us to better understand the temporal and spatial variations of the gut microbiota under different physiological and pathological conditions. However, it is inconvenient for scientists to query and retrieve published data; thus, a comprehensive resource for the quantitative gut metagenome is urgently needed. In this study, we developed gut MEtaGenome Atlas (gutMEGA), a well-annotated comprehensive database, to curate and host published quantitative gut microbiota datasets from Homo sapiens. By carefully curating the gut microbiota composition, phenotypes and experimental information, gutMEGA finally integrated 59 132 quantification events for 6457 taxa at seven different levels (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species) under 776 conditions. Moreover, with various browsing and search functions, gutMEGA provides a fast and simple way for users to obtain the relative abundances of intestinal microbes among phenotypes. Overall, gutMEGA is a convenient and comprehensive resource for gut metagenome research, which can be freely accessed at http://gutmega.omicsbio.info.

Automated summary

The study introduced gutMEGA, a comprehensive database curating and hosting quantitative gut microbiota datasets from Homo sapiens. It integrated 59,132 quantification events for 6457 taxa under 776 conditions, providing users with a fast and simple way to access relative abundances of intestinal microbes through various browsing and search functions. GutMEGA is a convenient and comprehensive resource for gut metagenome research, available for free access at http://gutmega.omicsbio.info.