ArticleNature communications2025
Emergence of alternative states in a synthetic human gut microbial community.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Reconstructing community dynamics from limited observations.Microbiome · 2026Article
- Scalp Microbiota Dysbiosis in Seborrheic Alopecia and Restoration Following Herbal Extract Shampoo Intervention.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Special Issue "Current Research on the Role of the Gut Microbiota in Human Diseases and Health".International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Duration-dependent gut microbiota disruption drives opposing effects on adipose thermogenesis in obese mice.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Translating priority effects and niche engineering into rational microbiome therapeutics across the gut-lung axis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Antibiotics and priority effects on colonizing resistant Escherichia coli strain assemblages in a community setting.PloS one · 2026Article
- Emergence of alternative states in a synthetic human gut microbial community.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Host-independent synergism between Lactobacillus crispatus and other vaginal lactobacilli.Cell reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Several human-associated microbial communities exist in multiple configurations and can change their composition in response to perturbations, remaining in an altered state even after the perturbation ends. Multistability has been previously proposed to explain this behavior for gut microbiota in particular, but has not been clearly demonstrated experimentally. Here, we first investigate the life history strategies of three common human gut bacteria to identify mechanisms driving alternative states. We then use this data to build and parameterize a kinetic model, which predicts that alternative states emerge due to phenotype switching between subpopulations of the same species. Perturbation experiments support these predictions, and confirm the existence of alternative states. Finally, simulations show that phenotype switching can also explain alternative states in larger communities. Thus, a transient perturbation combined with metabolic flexibility is sufficient for alternative communities to emerge.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.