Host-to-host variation of ecological interactions in polymicrobial infections.

ABSTRACT: Host-to-host variability with respect to interactions between microorganisms and multicellular hosts are commonly observed in infection and in homeostasis. However, the majority of mechanistic models used to analyze host-microorganism relationships, as well as most of the ecological theories proposed to explain coevolution of hosts and microbes, are based on averages across a host population. By assuming that observed variations are random and independent, these models overlook the role of differences between hosts. Here, we analyze mechanisms underlying host-to-host variations of bacterial infection kinetics, using the well characterized experimental infection model of polymicrobial otitis media (OM) in chinchillas, in combination with population dynamic models and a maximum entropy (MaxE

SUBMITTER: Mukherjee S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4269105 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature