Title |
MINIREVIEW] Unraveling interactions in microbial communities - from co-cultures to microbiomes |
Author |
Justin Tan, Cristal Zuniga, and Karsten Zengler* |
Address |
Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA |
Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 53(5),295-305, 2015,
|
DOI |
10.1007/s12275-015-5060-1
|
Key Words |
synthetic communities, system biology, co-cultures,
metabolic models |
Abstract |
Microorganisms do not exist in isolation in the environment.
Instead, they form complex communities among themselves
as well as with their hosts. Different forms of interactions not
only shape the composition of these communities but also define
how these communities are established and maintained.
The kinds of interaction a bacterium can employ are largely
encoded in its genome. This allows us to deploy a genomescale
modeling approach to understand, and ultimately predict,
the complex and intertwined relationships in which microorganisms
engage. So far, most studies on microbial communities
have been focused on synthetic co-cultures and simple
communities. However, recent advances in molecular
and computational biology now enable bottom up methods
to be deployed for complex microbial communities from the
environment to provide insight into the intricate and dynamic
interactions in which microorganisms are engaged.
These methods will be applicable for a wide range of microbial
communities involved in industrial processes, as well as
understanding, preserving and reconditioning natural microbial
communities present in soil, water, and the human
microbiome. |