The evolution of the host microbiome as an ecosystem on a leash

By Kevin R. Foster, Jonas Schluter, K. Coyte, S. Rakoff-Nahoum. Nature, 2017

754 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The human body carries vast communities of microbes that provide many benefits. Our microbiome is complex and challenging to understand, but evolutionary theory provides a universal framework with which to analyse its biology and health impacts. Here we argue that to understand a given microbiome feature, such as colonization resistance, host nutrition or immune development, we must consider how hosts and symbionts evolve. Symbionts commonly evolve to compete within the host ecosystem, while hosts evolve to keep the ecosystem on a leash. We suggest that the health benefits of the microbiome should be understood, and studied, as an interplay between microbial competition and host control.

Subfields: Genetics, Molecular Biology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2b6358441b969b7e8c88dec427e79a2948407490

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Genetics

1. K. Peay
2. E. Kiers
3. Y. Onoda

In Molecular Biology

1. H. Smidt
2. Ellen E. Blaak
3. Yang Bai
4. K. Peay
5. John Penders
6. Y. Onoda
7. Erwin G. Zoetendal
8. Klaus Schlaeppi

In Sociology and Political Science

1. E. Kiers
2. Y. Onoda

Citations in the corpus

• Gut microbiome stability and resilience: elucidating the response to perturbations in order to modulate gut health (2020, background): “33 For this reason, the human host might be able to control microbial numbers in the small intestine to avoid competition for simple sugars and amino acids, as well as limit oxygen availability in the large intestine to obtain microbial fermentation products from dietary fibres.”
• Colonocyte metabolism shapes the gut microbiota (2018, neutral): “Homeostasis: Pulling diffuse concepts into focus Clues about immune functions important for balancing the microbiota have emerged by viewing coevolution of microbial communities with their hosts from an ecological perspective, which suggests that the immune system maintains homeostasis by shaping th”
• Core microbiomes for sustainable agroecosystems (2018, background): “While native biota are often treated as risk factors potentially causing disease outbreaks in agroecosystems, plants in natural ecosystems have also evolved means for maximizing benefits of microbiomes 117 .”