A distinction between different notions of "structure" and "function" is suggested for interpreting the overwhelming amount of data on microbiome structure and function. Sequence data, biochemical agents, interaction networks, taxonomic communities, and their dynamics can be linked to potential or actual biochemical activities, causal roles, and selected effects, respectively. This conceptual clarification has important methodological consequences for how to interpret existing data and approach open questions in contemporary microbiome research practice. In particular, the field will have to start thinking about notions of function more directly. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/j5pq5uGld1k.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.201900255 | DOI Listing |
World J Microbiol Biotechnol
January 2025
Area of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, OneHealth-UR Research Group, University of La Rioja, 26006, Logroño, Spain.
Mammalian milk contains a variety of complex bioactive and nutritional components and microorganisms. These microorganisms have diverse compositions and functional roles that impact host health and disease pathophysiology, especially mastitis. The advent and use of high throughput omics technologies, including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, metametabolomics, as well as culturomics in milk microbiome studies suggest strong relationships between host phenotype and milk microbiome signatures in mastitis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFALTEX
January 2025
Laboratory of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research, UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium.
The gut microbiota is unanimously acknowledged as playing a central role in human health, notably through the production of various metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, secondary bile acids, vitamins or neurotransmitters. Beyond contributing to gut health itself, these microbial metabolites significantly impact multiple organ systems by participating in key signaling pathways along the well documented gut-organ axes. Chemicals ingested through food might interact with our gut microbiota, altering metabolites production with consequences on health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Microbiol
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Plant detritus is abundant in grasslands but decomposes slowly and is relatively nutrient-poor, whereas animal carcasses are labile and nutrient-rich. Recent studies have demonstrated that labile nutrients from carcasses can significantly alter the long-term soil microbial function at an ecosystem scale. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on the functional and structural response and temporal scale of soil microbiomes beneath large herbivore carcasses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
Plant root and soil-associated microbiomes are influenced by niches, including bulk and rhizosphere soil. In this work, we collected bulk and rhizosphere soil samples at four potato developmental stages (leaf growth, flowering, tuber elongation and harvest) to identify whether rhizosphere microbiota are structured in a growth stage-dependent manner. The bacterial and fungal microbiota showed significant temporal differences in the rhizosphere and bulk soil.
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January 2025
Laboratorio de Bioinformática Microbiana, Programa Académico de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Universidad Politécnica de Sinaloa, Carretera Municipal Libre Km. 3 Mazatlán-Higueras, 82199, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Dispersal is an important life history trait that plays a key role in the demography and evolution of species. We employed a combined approach of DNA sequencing and transmission electron microscopy to examine the changes in the microbiome during the ontogeny and dispersal of the coral-excavating sponge Thoosa mismalolli. The results show that sponge can acquired their associated bacteria via both vertical (VT) and horizontal transmission (HT).
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