The ecology of the microbiome: Networks, competition, and stability

The human gut harbors a large and complex community of beneficial microbes that remain stable over long periods. This stability is considered critical for good health but is poorly understood. Here we develop a body of ecological theory to help us understand microbiome stability. Although cooperatin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2015-11, Vol.350 (6261), p.663-666
Main Authors: Coyte, Katharine Z., Schluter, Jonas, Foster, Kevin R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communities
Community ecology
Community Relations
Community structure
Competition
Computer Simulation
Constraining
Ecological and Environmental Phenomena
Ecology
Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology
Holistic Approach
Humans
Immune system
Immune Tolerance
Mathematical models
Microbial Interactions - physiology
Microbiology
Microbiota - physiology
Microorganisms
Models, Biological
Networks
Species diversity
Stability
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The human gut harbors a large and complex community of beneficial microbes that remain stable over long periods. This stability is considered critical for good health but is poorly understood. Here we develop a body of ecological theory to help us understand microbiome stability. Although cooperating networks of microbes can be efficient, we find that they are often unstable. Counterintuitively, this finding indicates that hosts can benefit from microbial competition when this competition dampens cooperative networks and increases stability. More generally, stability is promoted by limiting positive feedbacks and weakening ecological interactions. We have analyzed host mechanisms for maintaining stability—including immune suppression, spatial structuring, and feeding of community members—and support our key predictions with recent data.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aad2602