On the effect of inheritance of microbes in commensal microbiomes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Our current view of nature depicts a world where macroorganisms dwell in a landscape full of microbes. Some of these microbes not only transit but establish themselves in or on hosts. Although hosts might be occupied by microbes for most of their lives, a microbe-free stage during their prenatal development seems to be the rule for many hosts. The questions of who the first colonizers of a newborn host are and to what extent these are obtained from the parents follow naturally.

Results

We have developed a mathematical model to study the effect of the transfer of microbes from parents to offspring. Even without selection, we observe that microbial inheritance is particularly effective in modifying the microbiome of hosts with a short lifespan or limited colonizatio

SUBMITTER: Zapien-Campos R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9204957 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature