title: Challenges for complex microbial ecosystems: combination of experimental approaches with mathematical modeling.
abstract: In the past couple of decades, molecular ecological techniques have been developed to elucidate microbial diversity and distribution in microbial ecosystems. Currently, modern techniques, represented by meta-omics and single cell observations, are revealing the incredible complexity of microbial ecosystems and the large degree of phenotypic variation. These studies propound that microbiological techniques are insufficient to untangle the complex microbial network. This minireview introduces the application of advanced mathematical approaches in combination with microbiological experiments to microbial ecological studies. These combinational approaches have successfully elucidated novel microbial behaviors that had not been recognized previously. Furthermore, the theoretical perspective also provides an understanding of the plasticity, robustness and stability of complex microbial ecosystems in nature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haruta
authors.forename: Takehito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Yoshiteru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aoi
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Futamata
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D017753:Ecosystem; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008828:Microbiological Techniques