microbiota
microbiota — noun
1. all the bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other tiny life forms that naturally live
all the bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other tiny life forms that naturally live together in a specific habitat — for example, inside the human gut, on the surface of the skin, or in healthy soil
Dr. Chen studied the gut microbiota of premature infants at Taipei Children's Hospital.
gut microbiota — common collocation for intestinal microbes
Amara's gut microbiota weakened after she ate nothing but instant noodles for three weeks.
The soil microbiota in Yuki's vegetable garden broke down the fallen leaves within three weeks.
After strong antibiotics, Fatima's gut microbiota took nearly six months to fully recover.
Marine researchers sampled the microbiota living on healthy coral in the Red Sea.
- microbiome
nearly synonymous in everyday use, but technically refers to the genes of the microbiota rather than the organisms themselves
- microflora
older term, now largely replaced; originally implied plant-like organisms
- microbial community
more descriptive and less technical; useful when explaining the concept to non-experts
文法句型
the microbiota of + noun phrase
用法筆記
Often used interchangeably with 'microbiome' in everyday contexts, but the two terms are technically distinct: 'microbiota' refers to the living microorganisms themselves, while 'microbiome' refers to the collection of their genetic material. In casual use, 'microbiome' is now the more common word.