Quantitative genetics of microbiome-mediated traits.

ABSTRACT: Multicellular organisms host a rich assemblage of associated microorganisms, collectively known as their "microbiomes." Microbiomes have the capacity to influence their hosts' fitnesses, but the conditions under which such influences contribute to evolution are not clear. This is due in part to a lack of a comprehensive theoretical framework for describing the combined effects of host and associated microbes on phenotypic variation. Here, we address this gap by extending the foundations of quantitative genetic theory to include host-associated microbes, as well as alleles of hosts, as factors that explain quantitative host trait variation. We introduce a way to partition host-associated microbiomes into components relevant for predicting a microbiome-mediated response to selection. We then

SUBMITTER: Week B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12620654 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature