title: Host-to-host variation of ecological interactions in polymicrobial infections.
abstract: Host-to-host variability with respect to interactions between microorganisms and multicellular hosts are commonly observed in infection and in homeostasis. However, the majority of mechanistic models used to analyze host-microorganism relationships, as well as most of the ecological theories proposed to explain coevolution of hosts and microbes, are based on averages across a host population. By assuming that observed variations are random and independent, these models overlook the role of differences between hosts. Here, we analyze mechanisms underlying host-to-host variations of bacterial infection kinetics, using the well characterized experimental infection model of polymicrobial otitis media (OM) in chinchillas, in combination with population dynamic models and a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) based inference scheme. We find that the nature of the interactions between bacterial species critically regulates host-to-host variations in these interactions. Surprisingly, seemingly unrelated phenomena, such as the efficiency of individual bacterial species in utilizing nutrients for growth, and the microbe-specific host immune response, can become interdependent in a host population. The latter finding suggests a potential mechanism that could lead to selection of specific strains of bacterial species during the coevolution of the host immune response and the bacterial species.
authors.affiliation: Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine, The Research Institute at the Nationwide Children's Hospital and, The Ohio State University, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA. Departments of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
authors.forename: Sayak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Kristin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Weimer
authors.forename: Sang-Cheol
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Seok
authors.forename: Will C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jayaprakash
authors.forename: Veronica J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Vieland
authors.forename: W Edward
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Swords
authors.forename: Jayajit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002682:Chinchilla / Q000382:microbiology*; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D055669:Ecological and Environmental Phenomena; D008954:Models, Biological; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011157:Population Dynamics