Historically microbiomes have been studied on the scale of the individual host, giving little consideration for the role of extra-host microbial populations in microbiome assembly. However, work in recent years has brought to light the importance of inter-host transmission and its influence on microbiome composition and dynamics. We now appreciate that microbiomes do not exist in isolation, but exchange constituents with the microbial communities of other hosts and the environment. Moving forward, fully understanding the role of transmission in microbiome assembly and dynamics will require a high-resolution view of the colonization and persistence patterns of particular microbial lineages (i.e. strains) across individuals and the environment. Yet, accomplishing this level of resolution will be an immense challenge, requiring improved sampling and bioinformatics approaches as well as employment of tractable experimental models. Insight gained from these investigations will contribute to our understanding of microbiome composition and variation, and lead to improved strategies for modulating microbiomes to improve human health.

中文翻译：

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持久性的尺度：​​传播和微生物组。


历史上，微生物组是在个体宿主的规模上进行研究的，很少考虑宿主外微生物种群在微生物组组装中的作用。然而，近年来的工作揭示了宿主间传播的重要性及其对微生物组组成和动态的影响。我们现在认识到微生物组并不是孤立存在的，而是与其他宿主和环境的微生物群落交换成分。展望未来，充分了解传播在微生物组组装和动力学中的作用将需要对特定微生物谱系（即菌株）在个体和环境中的定植和持久模式有高分辨率的了解。然而，实现这种水平的分辨率将是一个巨大的挑战，需要改进采样和生物信息学方法以及使用易于处理的实验模型。从这些研究中获得的见解将有助于我们了解微生物组的组成和变异，并改进调节微生物组以改善人类健康的策略。