Differentiating the microbiome and microbiota

In recent years, microbiome, microbiota, and more terminology for gut health have begun to rise in popularity. However, now that this terminology is everywhere from human soda brands to pet supplements, what exactly do these words mean, and what is the difference between the 2?

During an interview with dvm360 at Fetch Charlotte, Callie Harris, DVM, sat down with our team prior to her lecture to break down the differences, and share more on why she referred to microflora as a “misnomer.”

Below is a full transcript of the video, edited lightly for clarity

dvm360: Starting with your name, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Callie Harris, DVM: Yes, so I'm Dr Callie Harris, and I'm a small-animal veterinarian and also a Purina veterinarian. I'm based in Atlanta. My clinical background is emergency medicine, and I made that transition into industry almost a decade ago. I still practice on the side every other weekend, and I wear a lot of different hats as a veterinarian for Purina.

dvm360: You described the microbiome as more than just bacteria. What are the other components of this "theatre of activity," and why is their inclusion sometimes considered controversial?

Harris: Yeah. So it can get a little bit complicated, just because I think we have naturally just used the term microflora, but we know that that's now more related to the plant kingdom. So when we think about the microbiota vs the microbiome, I also see folks using those terms interchangeably. But here is a really quick and hopefully easy breakdown.

So microbiota is going to describe those microorganisms, those living microorganisms that exist within the microbiome. The microbiome is going to be more of that environment that contains those microorganisms and also the theatre of activities. So their substrates, their molecules, the different actions that they're doing within the microbiome. So you have the microbiota, which are the actual organisms that's going to be bacteria, protozoa, archaea, fungi, viruses, which viruses are a little bit controversial because they're not considered living, but those organisms are then going to exist in this environment called the microbiome, and this is where they're able to perform all their wonderful benefits for the host.