Host-Microbe Biology
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Who, Why, and How of Small-Molecule Production in Invertebrate Microbiomes: Basic Insights Fueling Drug DiscoveryBacteria have supplied us with many bioactive molecules for use in medicine and agriculture. However, rates of discovery have decreased as the biosynthetic capacity of the culturable biosphere has been continuously mined for many decades.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyUnraveling Interactions between the Microbiome and the Host Immune System To Decipher Mechanisms of DiseaseIn recent years, there has been a deluge of papers linking altered microbiome compositions to a myriad of diseases. Mechanistic insight into microbial drivers of disease phenotypes is essential for translation to novel therapies.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyMaking Millennial Medicine More MetaAlthough the importance of human genetic polymorphisms in therapeutic outcomes is well established, the role of specific genotypic or copy number variants in our “second genome” (the microbiome) has been largely overlooked. In this Perspective, I will discuss three major barriers to integrating metagenomics into pharmacology, highlighting ongoing research by us and others that has begun to shed light on the mechanisms that link the...
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyMetabolomics and Agriculture: What Can Be Done?The importance of Brazil as a producer and exporter of food and feed will continuously increase. Despite the recent economic and political problems in Brazil, the scientific field is expanding.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologySpatial Analyses of Specialized Metabolites: The Key to Studying Function in HostsMicrobial communities contribute to a wide variety of biological functions in hosts and have the ability to specifically influence the health of those organisms through production of specialized metabolites. However, the structures or molecular mechanisms related to health or disease in host-microbe interactions represent a knowledge gap.
Special Issue Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyA Microbial Perspective on the Grand Challenges in Comparative Animal PhysiologyInteractions with microbial communities can have profound influences on animal physiology, thereby impacting animal performance and fitness. Therefore, it is important to understand the diversity and nature of host-microbe interactions in various animal groups (invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals).
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMarket Integration Predicts Human Gut Microbiome Attributes across a Gradient of Economic DevelopmentPrevious research has reported differences in the gut microbiome between populations residing in wealthy versus poorer countries, leading to the assertion that lifestyle changes associated with economic development promote changes in the gut microbiome that promote the proliferation of microbiome-associated diseases. However, a direct relationship between economic development and the gut microbiome has not previously been shown. We...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyZika Virus Alters DNA Methylation of Neural Genes in an Organoid Model of the Developing Human BrainScientific research on human neural stem cells and cerebral organoids has confirmed the congenital neurotropic and neurodestructive nature of the Zika virus. However, the extent to which prenatal ZIKV infection is associated with more subtle brain alterations, such as epigenetic changes, remains ill defined. Here, we address the question of whether ZIKV infection induces DNA methylation changes with the potential to cause brain...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGut Microbiota Offers Universal Biomarkers across Ethnicity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Diagnosis and Infliximab Response PredictionIn the present report, we show that the human fecal microbiota contains promising and universal biomarkers for the noninvasive evaluation of inflammatory bowel disease severity and IFX treatment efficacy, emphasizing the potential ability to mine the gut microbiota as a modality to stratify IBD patients and apply personalized therapy for optimal outcomes.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAbiotic Stresses Shift Belowground Populus-Associated Bacteria Toward a Core Stress MicrobiomeThe identification of a common “stress microbiome” indicates tightly controlled relationships between the plant host and bacterial associates and a conserved structure in bacterial communities associated with poplar trees under different growth conditions. The ability of the microbiome to buffer the plant from extreme environmental conditions coupled with the conserved stress microbiome observed in this study suggests an opportunity for...