Emergence of collective territorial defense in bacterial communities: horizontal gene transfer can stabilize microbiomes

Multispecies bacterial communities such as the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract can be remarkably stable and resilient even though they consist of cells and species that compete for resources and also produce a large number of antimicrobial agents. Computational modeling suggests that horizo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-04, Vol.9 (4), p.e95511-e95511
Main Authors: Juhász, János, Kertész-Farkas, Attila, Szabó, Dóra, Pongor, Sándor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Antibiotics
Antiinfectives and antibacterials
Antimicrobial agents
Bacteria
Bacteria - genetics
Bacteria - immunology
Bacterial genetics
Bioinformatics
Biology and Life Sciences
Communities
Competition
Computer applications
Computer Simulation
Consortia
Cooperation
Distribution
Gastrointestinal system
Gastrointestinal tract
Gene transfer
Gene Transfer, Horizontal
Genes
Genetic engineering
Genetic Variation
Genomics
Genotype
Health aspects
Horizontal transfer
Information technology
Microbiota
Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms)
Microbiota - genetics
Microorganisms
Models, Biological
Transplants & implants
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Summary:Multispecies bacterial communities such as the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract can be remarkably stable and resilient even though they consist of cells and species that compete for resources and also produce a large number of antimicrobial agents. Computational modeling suggests that horizontal transfer of resistance genes may greatly contribute to the formation of stable and diverse communities capable of protecting themselves with a battery of antimicrobial agents while preserving a varied metabolic repertoire of the constituent species. In other words horizontal transfer of resistance genes makes a community compatible in terms of exoproducts and capable to maintain a varied and mature metagenome. The same property may allow microbiota to protect a host organism, or if used as a microbial therapy, to purge pathogens and restore a protective environment.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0095511