Microbiome articles from across Nature Portfolio

New light is being shed on the interactions between the gut microbiome, cancer cell signalling and the host immune response. With this knowledge, microbiota-based approaches for improving cancer prevention, prognostication and therapy have started to materialize and will contribute to reducing the global cancer burden.

This Perspective presents concepts and foundations of data analysis and interpretation of microbiome experiments with a focus on the microbiome–gut–brain axis domain.

In this Perspective, the authors present techniques from other disciplines that could help to enrich and inform the analysis of microbiome–gut–brain axis data.

The authors investigate microbiota properties for plant protection using synthetic communities and machine learning approaches. They identify strains that reduce pathogen colonization despite variation in microbiota composition.

DNA analysis of ancient dental calculus samples revealed distinct oral microbial communities, including the archaeon Methanobrevibacter, which was associated with hygiene, diet and health.

On-farm experiments in 54 fields in Switzerland show that inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can promote crop yield, and inoculation success can be predicted using soil microbiome indicators.

New light is being shed on the interactions between the gut microbiome, cancer cell signalling and the host immune response. With this knowledge, microbiota-based approaches for improving cancer prevention, prognostication and therapy have started to materialize and will contribute to reducing the global cancer burden.

In this study, Wang et al. show that bacterium-derived intestinal ammonia modulates glutamine production in the mouse brain and reduces stress-induced depressive-like behaviour.

A citizen science approach has helped craft a resource-rich vaginal microbiome map with associations to lifestyle and events across a woman’s life course.

Empowering women through citizen science, from using self-collected vaginal samples to participant input on research questions, we decoded nuances in the composition of the vaginal microbiota — thereby linking female health and lifestyle to vaginal microbiota diversity. We crafted a unique dataset that should inspire new diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities.

An overabundant ‘mycobiota’ in the gut might be involved in triggering harmful immune responses.