Linking Spatial Structure and Community-Level Biotic Interactions through Cooccurrence and Time Series Modeling of the Human Intestinal Microbiota.

ABSTRACT: The gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome is a densely populated ecosystem where dynamics are determined by interactions between microbial community members, as well as host factors. The spatial organization of this system is thought to be important in human health, yet this aspect of our resident microbiome is still poorly understood. In this study, we report significant spatial structure of the GI microbiota, and we identify general categories of spatial patterning in the distribution of microbial taxa along a healthy human GI tract. We further estimate the biotic interaction structure in the GI microbiota, both through time series and cooccurrence modeling of microbial community data derived from a large number of sequentially collected fecal samples. Comparison of these two approaches showe

SUBMITTER: de Muinck EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5585691 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature