Application of a neutral community model to assess structuring of the human lung microbiome.

ABSTRACT:

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DNA from phylogenetically diverse microbes is routinely recovered from healthy human lungs and used to define the lung microbiome. The proportion of this DNA originating from microbes adapted to the lungs, as opposed to microbes dispersing to the lungs from other body sites and the atmosphere, is not known. We use a neutral model of community ecology to distinguish members of the lung microbiome whose presence is consistent with dispersal from other body sites and those that deviate from the model, suggesting a competitive advantage to these microbes in the lungs. We find that the composition of the healthy lung microbiome is consistent with predictions of the neutral model, reflecting the overriding role of dispersal of microbes from the oral cavity in shaping the micro

SUBMITTER: Venkataraman A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4324308 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature