ArticlePLoS computational biology2020
Stochastic colonization of hosts with a finite lifespan can drive individual host microbes out of equilibrium.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cluster dispersal shapes microbial diversity during community assembly.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Drivers of diversity within and between microbial communities during stochastic assembly.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- The effect of stochastic noise on antibiotic resistance in intestinal flora.NPJ systems biology and applications · 2025Article
- On the effect of inheritance of microbes in commensal microbiomes.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- The effect of microbial selection on the occurrence-abundance patterns of microbiomes.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Natural selection for imprecise vertical transmission in host-microbiota systems.Nature ecology & evolution · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Macroorganisms are inhabited by microbial communities that often change through the lifespan of an individual. One of the factors contributing to this change is colonization from the environment. The colonization of initially microbe-free hosts is particularly interesting, as their microbiome depends entirely on microbes of external origin. We present a mathematical model of this process with a particular emphasis on the effect of ecological drift and a finite host lifespan. Our results indicate the host lifespan becomes especially relevant for short-living organisms (e.g. Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, and Danio rerio). In this case, alternative microbiome states (often called enterotypes), the coexistence of microbe-free and colonized hosts, and a reduced probability of colonization can be observed in our model. These results unify multiple reported observations around colonization and suggest that no selective or deterministic drivers are necessary to explain them.
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