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A mechanistic framework for complex microbe-host symbioses

Gui Araujo, José M. Montoya, Torsten Thomas, Nicole S. Webster, Miguel Lurgi Rivera Orcid Logo

Trends in Microbiology, Volume: 33, Issue: 1, Pages: 96 - 111

Swansea University Author: Miguel Lurgi Rivera Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.tim.2024.08.002

Abstract

Virtually all multicellular organisms on Earth live in symbiotic associations with complex microbial communities: the microbiome. This ancient relationship is of fundamental importance for both the host and the microbiome. Recently, the analyses of numerous microbiomes have revealed an incredible di...

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Published in: Trends in Microbiology
ISSN: 0966-842X 1878-4380
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67601
Abstract: Virtually all multicellular organisms on Earth live in symbiotic associations with complex microbial communities: the microbiome. This ancient relationship is of fundamental importance for both the host and the microbiome. Recently, the analyses of numerous microbiomes have revealed an incredible diversity and complexity of symbionts, with different mechanisms identified as potential drivers of this diversity. However, the interplay of ecological and evolutionary forces generating these complex associations is still poorly understood. Here we explore and summarise the suite of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms identified as relevant to different aspects of microbiome complexity and diversity. We argue that microbiome assembly is a dynamic product of ecology and evolution at various spatio-temporal scales. We propose a theoretical framework to classify mechanisms and build mechanistic host-microbiome models to link them to empirical patterns. We develop a cohesive foundation for the theoretical understanding of the combined effects of ecology and evolution on the assembly of complex symbioses.
Item Description: Review
Keywords: eco-evolution; metacommunity; population dynamics; complex networks; model selection; symbiosis
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: G.A. and M.L. are supported by the Leverhulme Trust through Research Project Grant # RPG-2022-114. J.M.M. is partially supported by the French ANR through LabEx TULIP (ANR-10-LABX-41).
Issue: 1
Start Page: 96
End Page: 111

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