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Harnessing the power of host–microbe symbioses to address grand challenges

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 19, pages 615–616 (2021)Cite this article

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Humankind relies on host–microbe symbioses and the ecosystems they form for diverse services, including food and health. It is important to understand how symbioses will fare in a world facing rapid global change and how adaptation and resilience of symbioses can be aided to secure their services for future generations.

Symbiosis research, specifically the study of host–microbe interactions, has traditionally had an inward-looking perspective, frequently characterizing the involved microbial symbiont partners that range from one or few strains to many thousands of lineages. It is looking at molecules, functions and mechanisms of host–microbe interactions, frequently looking at ever smaller entities with increasing resolution. Microbial influences have been demonstrated on various aspects of animal life including evolution, genomics, development, cell biology and ecology. This recognition of the magnitude of host–microbe interactions has had a major impact on the life sciences1. In consequence, the terms ‘holobiont’ or ‘metaorganism’ have been introduced, acknowledging a wider, more flexible portfolio including also complex, multi-partner associations and accepting less a priori knowledge on the functional underpinnings. Animal–microbe symbiosis research has entered mainstream biology, driven by its alignment with the medical sciences and the attention that several large projects, such as the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), the Earth Microbiome Project (EMP) and others (such as the Sponge Microbiome Project (SMP)), have garnered. The fact that a Gordon Research Conference on Animal–Microbe Symbioses has been initiated in 2015 testifies to this development.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the symbiosis community, in particular for the discussions at the GRC and GRS Animal-Microbe Symbioses since 2015 and the CRC 1182 “Origin and Function of Metaorganisms”, Kiel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit Marine Symbioses, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Ute Hentschel

  2. Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Ute Hentschel

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  1. Ute Hentschel
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Correspondence to Ute Hentschel.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Aquatic Symbioses Model Systems Initiative: https://www.moore.org/initiative-strategy-detail?initiativeId=symbiosis-in-aquatic-systems-initiative

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Hentschel, U. Harnessing the power of host–microbe symbioses to address grand challenges. Nat Rev Microbiol 19, 615–616 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-021-00619-3

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