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The evolution of the host microbiome as an ecosystem on a leash
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Journal Article
The evolution of the host microbiome as an ecosystem on a leash
2017
Overview
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.
The human microbiome is a tension between microbes evolving to compete within the host ecosystem, and hosts trying to keep them under control.
Hosts keep their microbiome on a leash
The microbial communities that inhabit the human body provide several benefits to their host, but the evolutionary basis of this complex relationship is unclear. In this Perspective, Kevin Foster and colleagues propose an evolutionary framework for understanding the dynamics of the microbiome. They argue that, in order to understand the microbiome and harness it for health benefits, we need to view the relationship between host and symbiont as one based on microbial competition and host control.
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
