title: Transitioning from Microbiome Composition to Microbial Community Interactions: The Potential of the MetaorganismHydraas an Experimental Model.
abstract: Animals are home to complex microbial communities, which are shaped through interactions within the community, interactions with the host, and through environmental factors. The advent of high-throughput sequencing methods has led to novel insights in changing patterns of community composition and structure. However, deciphering the different types of interactions among community members, with their hosts and their interplay with their environment is still a challenge of major proportion. The emerging fields of synthetic microbial ecology and community systems biology have the potential to decrypt these complex relationships. Studying host-associated microbiota across multiple spatial and temporal scales will bridge the gap between individual microorganism studies and large-scale whole community surveys. Here, we discuss the unique potential ofHydraas an emerging experimental model in microbiome research. Throughin vivo,in vitro, andin silicoapproaches the interaction structure of host-associated microbial communities and the effects of the host on the microbiota and its interactions can be disentangled. Research in the model systemHydracan unify disciplines from molecular genetics to ecology, opening up the opportunity to discover fundamental rules that govern microbiome community stability.
authors: Zoological Institute and Interdisciplinary Research Center, Kiel Life Science, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel Kiel, Germany.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Deines
authors: Zoological Institute and Interdisciplinary Research Center, Kiel Life Science, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel Kiel, Germany.
authors: Thomas C G
authors: TC
authors: Bosch
keywords: microbial interactions; microbiome; model system; modeling; synthetic communities; systems biology