Metabolic modeling of species interaction in the human microbiome elucidates community-level assembly rules.

ABSTRACT: The human microbiome plays a key role in human health and is associated with numerous diseases. Metagenomic-based studies are now generating valuable information about the composition of the microbiome in health and in disease, demonstrating nonneutral assembly processes and complex co-occurrence patterns. However, the underlying ecological forces that structure the microbiome are still unclear. Specifically, compositional studies alone with no information about mechanisms of interaction, potential competition, or syntrophy, cannot clearly distinguish habitat-filtering and species assortment assembly processes. To address this challenge, we introduce a computational framework, integrating metagenomic-based compositional data with genome-scale metabolic modeling of species interaction. We u

SUBMITTER: Levy R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3732988 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature