A2 Vertaisarvioitu katsausartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
The island biology of the host microbiome
Tekijät: Sarkar, Amar; Raulo, Aura; Stothart, Mason R.; Ibata, Neil G. O.; Harty, Siobhán; Metcalf, C. Jessica E.; Bohannan, Brendan J. M.; Bennett, Gordon M.; Carmody, Rachel N.
Kustantaja: Elsevier
Julkaisuvuosi: 2026
Lehti: Trends in Microbiology
Vuosikerta: 34
Numero: 6
Aloitussivu: 627
Lopetussivu: 649
ISSN: 0966-842X
eISSN: 1878-4380
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.001
Julkaisun avoimuus kirjaamishetkellä: Ei avoimesti saatavilla
Julkaisukanavan avoimuus : Osittain avoin julkaisukanava
Verkko-osoite: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.001
Microbiomes perform critical functions for their hosts, and understanding microbiome variation is important for both basic and applied science. However, host traits alone cannot explain the entirety of microbiome variation, because, alongside host traits, microbiomes are shaped by multiple ecological processes. Researchers have thus turned to theories of island biology, conceptualising animal hosts as islands and animal microbiomes as metacommunities that assemble within and disperse between host islands. To develop realistic models, this host-as-island metaphor must be examined by explicitly comparing geological and host islands. Here, we critically examine the host-as-island metaphor by evaluating how microbiome variation is shaped by the four metacommunity processes that explain biodiversity on geological islands: local interspecies interactions, local selection, dispersal, and stochasticity. Key differences between host islands and geological islands include the complexity of microbiome transmission networks arising from host mobility and sociality and the capacity of hosts to evolve to control their microbiomes. We conclude with discussions of how eco-evolutionary dynamics differ between geological islands and host islands, and the reciprocal relevance of island biology and microbiome science.
Avainsanat:
community assembly, island biogeography, island ecology, metacommunity ecology, microbial transmission, microbiota
Julkaisussa olevat rahoitustiedot:
A.S., M.R.S., N.G.O.I., and S.H. declare no relevant funding. A.R. reports funding from Queen’s College at the University of Oxford and the Kone Foundation (202007064). C.J.E.M. reports funding from the Princeton Catalysis Initiative. B.J.M.B. reports funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Mercator Fellowship module of CRC 1182, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (https://doi.org/10.37807/GBMF10001), and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (1RM1GM158513-01). G.M.B. reports funding from the National Science Foundation Biological Integration Institute, INSITE—The Institute for Symbiotic Interactions, Training, and Education in the Face of a Changing Climate (NSF-2214038). R.N.C. reports funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (1R35GM160067), the National Science Foundation (BCS-1919892 and BCS-2142073), the William F. Milton Fund, and the Harvard University Dean’s Competitive Fund for Promising Scholarship. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
