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

Kevin R. Foster (), Jonas Schluter, Katharine Z. Coyte and Seth Rakoff-Nahoum ()
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Kevin R. Foster: University of Oxford
Jonas Schluter: Computational Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Katharine Z. Coyte: University of Oxford
Seth Rakoff-Nahoum: Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Nature, 2017, vol. 548, issue 7665, 43-51

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/nature23292

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