Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Trends Microbiol. 2010 Nov;18(11):504-11. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2010.07.005. Epub 2010 Aug 21.
Animals are symbiotic superorganisms, composed of eukaryotic cells and specific microbial residents that perform essential functions for their host. As humans, we are beginning to appreciate the diversity and function of our own microbiota, but model systems are leading the field in illustrating the molecular mechanisms that allow specific relationships to be recapitulated during each host generation. This review focuses on models in which genetic screens, coupled with genomics, imaging, phylogenetics and population biology, have begun to allow a remarkably detailed investigation into the molecular dissection of the evolution of host specificity in animal symbionts.
动物是共生的超个体，由真核细胞和特定的微生物居民组成，这些微生物居民为宿主执行重要功能。作为人类，我们开始认识到我们自己微生物组的多样性和功能，但模型系统正在引领这一领域，说明允许在每个宿主世代中再现特定关系的分子机制。这篇综述的重点是模型，其中遗传筛选与基因组学、成像、系统发育学和群体生物学相结合，开始允许对动物共生体宿主特异性进化的分子剖析进行非常详细的研究。
