There is an ongoing debate regarding microbiome terminology in the microbiology field.1 In this paper, we will be using the following definitions: (i) Microbiota is defined as the live (or active) microorganisms present on the body, and (ii) microbiome is the community of these microorganisms and the ones that are not considered alive (phages, viruses, plasmids, prions, viroids, and free DNA), their environment and interaction amongst each other and their host.1 An additional difference between these two terms can be explained by how we study them. Microbiota can be studied separately from their natural environment (in vitro studies) however, the environment of microbiome studies must include all members of the microbiological “community” within its natural habitat1 despite that our interest might be only one strain. The microbiome is frequently evaluated while studying the genome of the microorganisms of interest.
The microbiome is first formed when the newbo
