Measuring and understanding information storage and transfer in a simulated human gut microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Considering biological systems as information processing entities and analyzing their organizational structure via information-theoretic measures has become an established approach in life sciences. We transfer this framework to a field of broad general interest, the human gut microbiome. We use BacArena, a software combining agent-based modelling and flux-balance analysis, to simulate a simplified human intestinal microbiome (SIHUMI). In a first step, we derive information theoretic measures from the simulated abundance data, and, in a second step, relate them to the metabolic processes underlying the abundance data. Our study provides further evidence on the role of active information storage as an indicator of unexpected structural change in the observed system. Besides, we show that in

SUBMITTER: Zoller H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11407623 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature