To further understand the impact of antibiotics on the gastrointestinal tract microbial community, the intra-individual recovery pattern of specific microbial strains was determined using metagenomic sequencing coupled with strain-tracking analyses. In a study where 18 individuals were administered a single antibiotic (cefprozil), new microbial genomic variants (herein strains) were transiently detected in 15 individuals, while in a second study that used a cocktail of three antibiotics (meropenem, gentamicin, and vancomycin), all 12 participants had either permanent or transient strain changes. The presence of distinct microbial genomic variants indicates a pattern of strain recovery that is intra-individual specific following disruption of the human gastrointestinal tract with antibiotics.

为了进一步了解抗生素对胃肠道微生物群落的影响，使用宏基因组测序结合菌株追踪分析确定了特定微生物菌株的个体内恢复模式。在一项研究中，有18个人被给予了一种抗生素（头孢曲唑），在15个人中瞬时检测到了新的微生物基因组变体（此处为菌株），而在第二项研究中，使用了三种抗生素（美罗培南，庆大霉素和万古霉素）的混合物，所有12位参与者都发生了永久性或暂时性应变变化。独特的微生物基因组变异体的存在表明，在用抗生素破坏人的胃肠道后，菌株恢复的模式是个体内特异性的。