| Comments |
P.3 bottom paragraph to p.4 bottom paragraph: "What is the total mass of bacteria in the body? From the total colon content of about 0.4 kg
and a bacteria mass fraction of about one-half [refs 21, 24], [investigators] get a contribution of about 0.2 kg (wet weight) from bacteria to the overall mass of the colon content. Given the dominance of bacteria in the colon over all other microbiota populations in the body, [they] conclude that there is about 0.2 kg of bacteria in the body overall. Given the water content of bacteria, the total dry weight of bacteria in the body is about 50–100g. This value is consistent with a parallel alternative estimate for the total mass of bacteria that multiplies the average mass of a gut bacterium of about 5 pg (wet weight, corresponding to a dry weight of 1–2 pg, see S1 Appendix BNID 112998) with the updated total number of bacteria." |