Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
Integr Comp Biol. 2017 Oct 1;57(4):669-673. doi: 10.1093/icb/icx103.
The role that host-associated microbes play in animal biology is gaining attention in comparative biology. Numerous research groups study the roles that microbes play in human health and nutrition, or in enhancing the production of agricultural animals. However, inclusion of host-associated microbes into research questions of integrative and comparative biology has lagged behind. We hosted a symposium to bring together top researchers in the field of host-associated microbes who also incorporate aspects of integrative and comparative biology. In this introduction, we highlight recent research demonstrating the profound roles that host-associated microbes play in many aspects of animal biology, such as immune function, endocrinology, and even behavior. It is our hope that integrative and comparative biologists will begin to include aspects of host-associated microbes into their research programs, enhancing both the fields of comparative biology and host-microbe interactions.
宿主相关微生物在动物生物学中的作用在比较生物学中受到关注。许多研究小组研究微生物在人类健康和营养、或在提高农业动物生产中的作用。然而，将宿主相关微生物纳入综合和比较生物学的研究问题的步伐却落后了。我们举办了一次研讨会，将宿主相关微生物领域的顶尖研究人员聚集在一起，这些研究人员也将综合和比较生物学的各个方面纳入其中。在这篇介绍中，我们强调了最近的研究，这些研究表明宿主相关微生物在动物生物学的许多方面发挥着深远的作用，如免疫功能、内分泌学，甚至行为。我们希望综合和比较生物学家将宿主相关微生物的各个方面纳入他们的研究计划，从而增强比较生物学和宿主-微生物相互作用两个领域。
