Interhost dispersal alters microbiome assembly and can overwhelm host innate immunity in an experimental zebrafish model.

ABSTRACT: The diverse collections of microorganisms associated with humans and other animals, collectively referred to as their "microbiome," are critical for host health, but the mechanisms that govern their assembly are poorly understood. This has made it difficult to identify consistent host factors that explain variation in microbiomes across hosts, despite large-scale sampling efforts. While ecological theory predicts that the movement, or dispersal, of individuals can have profound and predictable consequences on community assembly, its role in the assembly of animal-associated microbiomes remains underexplored. Here, we show that dispersal of microorganisms among hosts can contribute substantially to microbiome variation, and is able to overwhelm the effects of individual host factors, in an

SUBMITTER: Burns AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5651736 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature