Acquisizione competenze di processo:Gut microbiota is a highly dense population of different kinds of bacteria engaged in several metabolic and immunological activities. Gut microbiota is associated with maintenance of health, and unbalanced microbiota contributes to the development of several diseases. alteration of beneficial gut microbiota population triggers gastrointestinal diseases including irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticular disease, liver diseases, and many others. Gut microbiota can be affected by multiple factors such as diet, stress, genetic variations. more and more has been learned on gut microbiota in the last decade due to the availability of culture independent technique capable to better characterize gut microbiota composition and function.