UMR 1349, IGEPP (Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes), INRA, Agrocampus Ouest, Université Rennes 1, Domaine de la Motte, 35653, Le Rheu Cedex, France.
Centre for Digestive and Gut Health, Imperial College London, London, W2 1NY, UK.
Microbiome. 2019 Jan 11;7(1):5. doi: 10.1186/s40168-019-0619-4.
In the recent years, the holobiont concept has emerged as a theoretical and experimental framework to study the interactions between hosts and their associated microbial communities in all types of ecosystems. The spread of this concept in many branches of biology results from the fairly recent realization of the ubiquitous nature of host-associated microbes and their central role in host biology, ecology, and evolution. Through this special series "Host-microbiota interactions: from holobiont theory to analysis," we wanted to promote this field of research which has considerable implications for human health, food production, and ecosystem protection. In this preface, we highlight a collection of articles selected for this special issue that show, use, or debate the concept of holobiont to approach taxonomically and ecologically diverse organisms, from humans and plants to sponges and insects. We also identify some theoretical and methodological challenges and propose directions for future research on holobionts.
近年来，整体生物（holobiont）概念已经成为一个理论和实验框架，用于研究所有类型生态系统中宿主与其相关微生物群落之间的相互作用。这一概念在生物学的许多分支中的传播，源于宿主相关微生物普遍存在这一相当新的认识，以及它们在宿主生物学、生态学和进化中的核心作用。通过这个特别系列“宿主-微生物组相互作用：从整体生物理论到分析”，我们希望促进这一研究领域的发展，因为它对人类健康、粮食生产和生态系统保护具有重要意义。在这篇前言中，我们重点介绍了为这个特刊挑选的一系列文章，这些文章展示、使用或辩论了整体生物的概念，以从人类和植物到海绵和昆虫等分类学和生态上多样化的生物体来研究。我们还确定了一些理论和方法学上的挑战，并为未来的整体生物研究提出了方向。
