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Microbiome: Ecology of stable gut communities

A recent analysis of microbial community dynamics shows that, contrary to current assumption, too much cooperation among species can destabilize their communities. This is a first step towards understanding what makes a stable microbiome and, thus, transforming microbiome research into a more predictive science.

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Figure 1: Microbiome community stability declines with the prevalence of cooperative interactions.

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Correspondence to Luke McNally or Sam P. Brown.

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McNally, L., Brown, S. Microbiome: Ecology of stable gut communities. Nat Microbiol 1, 15016 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2015.16

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