Ensemble quotient optimization (EQO) uses patterns of variation in species abundance and ecosystem functions across microbial communities to identify microbial guilds in a systematic, objective manner. EQO is robust in recovering functional groups in soil, ocean and animal-gut microbial communities.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Get just this article for as long as you need it
$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References
Louca, S. et al. Function and functional redundancy in microbial systems. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 936–943 (2018). A review about functional groups.
Schindler, D. E. et al. The portfolio concept in ecology and evolution. Front. Ecol. Environ. 13, 257–263 (2015). A review about the ecological portfolio theory.
Goldford, J. E. et al. Emergent simplicity in microbial community assembly. Science 361, 469–474 (2018). This paper reports that functional groups are stable across laboratory replicates of microcosms despite variable taxonomic composition.
Sunagawa, S. et al. Structure and function of the global ocean microbiome. Science 348, 1–8 (2015). This paper provides a global ocean microbiome dataset.
Gregor, R. et al. Mammalian gut metabolomes mirror microbiome composition and host phylogeny. ISME J. 16, 1262–1274 (2021). This paper provides an animal-gut microbiome dataset.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Shan, X., Goyal, A., Gregor, R. & Cordero, O. X. Annotation-free discovery of functional groups in microbial communities. Nat. Ecol. Evol., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02021-z (2023).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Identifying microbial guilds on the basis of ecological patterns. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 651–652 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02030-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02030-y