scholarly journals The role of the microbiome in host evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20190588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oren Kolodny ◽  
Benjamin J. Callahan ◽  
Angela E. Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Sequencing Technologies ◽  
Host Evolution ◽  
The Relationship

In the last decade, we have witnessed a major paradigm shift in the life sciences: the recognition that the microbiome, i.e. the set of microorganisms associated with healthy animals (including humans) and plants, plays a crucial role in the sustained health and fitness of its host. Enabled by rapid advances in sequencing technologies and analytical methods, substantial advances have been achieved in both identifying the microbial taxa and understanding the relationship between microbiome composition and host phenotype. These breakthroughs are leading to novel strategies for improved human and animal health, enhanced crop yield and nutritional quality, and the control of various pests and disease agents. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution'.

scholarly journals The study of host–microbiome (co)evolution across levels of selection

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20190604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britt Koskella ◽  
Joy Bergelson
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
Single Host ◽  
Host Evolution ◽  
Existing Data ◽  
Over Time

Microorganismal diversity can be explained in large part by selection imposed from both the abiotic and biotic environments, including—in the case of host-associated microbiomes—interactions with eukaryotes. As such, the diversity of host-associated microbiomes can be usefully studied across a variety of scales: within a single host over time, among host genotypes within a population, between populations and among host species. A plethora of recent studies across these scales and across diverse systems are: (i) exemplifying the importance of the host genetics in shaping microbiome composition; (ii) uncovering the role of the microbiome in shaping key host phenotypes; and (iii) highlighting the dynamic nature of the microbiome. They have also raised a critical question: do these complex associations fit within our existing understanding of evolution and coevolution, or do these often intimate and seemingly cross-generational interactions follow novel evolutionary rules from those previously identified? Herein, we describe the known importance of (co)evolution in host–microbiome systems, placing the existing data within extant frameworks that have been developed over decades of study, and ask whether there are unique properties of host–microbiome systems that require a paradigm shift. By examining when and how selection can act on the host and its microbiome as a unit (termed, the holobiont), we find that the existing conceptual framework, which focuses on individuals, as well as interactions among individuals and groups, is generally well suited for understanding (co)evolutionary change in these intimate assemblages. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.

scholarly journals Optimal integration between host physiology and functions of the gut microbiome

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20190594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha S. Fontaine ◽  
Kevin D. Kohl
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Physiological Function ◽  
Biological Organization ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Microbe Interactions ◽  
Host Physiology ◽  
Host Microbe Interactions ◽  
Host Evolution ◽  
Physiological Systems

Host-associated microbial communities have profound impacts on animal physiological function, especially nutrition and metabolism. The hypothesis of ‘symmorphosis’, which posits that the physiological systems of animals are regulated precisely to meet, but not exceed, their imposed functional demands, has been used to understand the integration of physiological systems across levels of biological organization. Although this idea has been criticized, it is recognized as having important heuristic value, even as a null hypothesis, and may, therefore, be a useful tool in understanding how hosts evolve in response to the function of their microbiota. Here, through a hologenomic lens, we discuss how the idea of symmorphosis may be applied to host-microbe interactions. Specifically, we consider scenarios in which host physiology may have evolved to collaborate with the microbiota to perform important functions, and, on the other hand, situations in which services have been completely outsourced to the microbiota, resulting in relaxed selection on host pathways. Following this theoretical discussion, we finally suggest strategies by which these currently speculative ideas may be explicitly tested to further our understanding of host evolution in response to their associated microbial communities. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.

scholarly journals Thinking embodiment with genetics: epigenetics and postgenomic biology in embodied cognition and enactivism

Synthese ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Meloni ◽  
Jack Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
The Body ◽  
Precise Nature ◽  
Andy Clark ◽  
4E Cognition ◽  
Genomic Biology ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Epigenetic Research

AbstractThe role of the body in cognition is acknowledged across a variety of disciplines, even if the precise nature and scope of that contribution remain contentious. As a result, most philosophers working on embodiment—e.g. those in embodied cognition, enactivism, and ‘4e’ cognition—interact with the life sciences as part of their interdisciplinary agenda. Despite this, a detailed engagement with emerging findings in epigenetics and post-genomic biology has been missing from proponents of this embodied turn. Surveying this research provides an opportunity to rethink the relationship between embodiment and genetics, and we argue that the balance of current epigenetic research favours the extension of an enactivist approach to mind and life, rather than the extended functionalist view of embodied cognition associated with Andy Clark and Mike Wheeler, which is more substrate neutral.

scholarly journals In the beginning: egg–microbe interactions and consequences for animal hosts

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20190593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spencer V. Nyholm
Keyword(s):  
Theme Issue ◽  
Successful Development ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Microbe Interactions ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
Microbial Products ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Host Evolution ◽  
The Ideal

Microorganisms are associated with the eggs of many animals. For some hosts, the egg serves as the ideal environment for the vertical transmission of beneficial symbionts between generations, while some bacteria use the egg to parasitize their hosts. In a number of animal groups, egg microbiomes often perform other essential functions. The eggs of aquatic and some terrestrial animals are especially susceptible to fouling and disease since they are exposed to high densities of microorganisms. To overcome this challenge, some hosts form beneficial associations with microorganisms, directly incorporating microbes and/or microbial products on or in their eggs to inhibit pathogens and biofouling. Other functional roles for egg-associated microbiomes are hypothesized to involve oxygen and nutrient acquisition. Although some egg-associated microbiomes are correlated with increased host fitness and are essential for successful development, the mechanisms that lead to such outcomes are often not well understood. This review article will discuss different functions of egg microbiomes and how these associations have influenced the biology and evolution of animal hosts. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.

scholarly journals Moral and spiritual aspects in counseling: Recent development in the West

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Abdul Mufid
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Professional Counseling ◽  
The West ◽  
Value System ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Religious Professionals ◽  
The Relationship

<p class="AbstrakAGC"><span lang="NL">This paper aims to explore the moral and spiritual dimensions of counseling. Since professional counseling has developed in the West, the cultural identity and individualistic orientation of identity has entered the counseling profession. Recently a surge of interest in spirituality and religion has been noted with several treatments focused on a new approach to counseling. The new approach shows that spirituality in life is central to individuals, families and communities. Therapists examine the relationship between spirituality and general psychological health. Secular and religious professionals recognize the paradigm shift from illness to health and from individualism to collectivism. Counseling that develops from the premise of such a therapist must be free of value. The emergence of an integrated perspective with religious and spirituality counseling views has resulted in a fundamental conflict with the prevailing professional value system. Counselors still want to avoid the role of a moralist. The controversy also relates to the firmness one wants, the therapist attaching moral and spiritual dimensions while advocating certain values. Psychotherapy, as a moralistic company, requires modification in its training program. Therapists need to change their orientation, namely as scientists with deep moral or spiritual commitment. Clients need and demand reorientation like this. This profession has a claim to respond to the needs of its clients and it cannot ignore the impetus that arises in practice.</span></p>

scholarly journals The evolution of paternal care: a role for microbes?

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20190599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Gurevich ◽  
Ohad Lewin-Epstein ◽  
Lilach Hadany
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Genetic Models ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Host Evolution ◽  
Uncertain Paternity ◽  
Limited Accuracy

Paternal care, particularly in cases of uncertain paternity, carries significant costs. Extensive research, both theoretical and experimental, has explored the conditions in which paternal care behaviour would be favoured. Common explanations include an adjustment of care with uncertainty in paternity and limited accuracy in parentage assessment. Here, we propose a new explanation that microbes may play a role in the evolution of paternal care among their hosts. Using computational models, we demonstrate that microbes associated with increased paternal care could be favoured by natural selection. We find that microbe-induced paternal care could evolve under wider conditions than suggested by genetic models. Moreover, we show that microbe-induced paternal care is more likely to evolve when considering paternal care interactions that increase microbial transmission, such as feeding and grooming. Our results imply that factors affecting the composition of host microbiome may also alter paternal behaviour. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.

Allostasis and the developing human brain: Explicit consideration of implicit models

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 955-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara L. Ganzel ◽  
Pamela A. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Life Sciences ◽  
Developmental Stress ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Social ◽  
Explicit Consideration ◽  
Emotional Systems ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Stress And Health ◽  
The Brain

AbstractWe previously used the theory of allostasis as the foundation for a model of the current stress process. This work highlighted the core emotional systems of the brain as the central mediator of the relationship between stress and health. In this paper, we extend this theoretical approach to consider the role of developmental timing. In doing so, we note that there are strong implicit models that underlie current developmental stress research in the social and life sciences. We endeavor to illustrate these modelsexplicitlyas we review the evidence behind each one and discuss their implications. We then extend these models to reflect recent findings from research in life span human neuroscience. The result is a new set of developmental allostatic models that provide fodder for future empirical research, as well as novel perspectives on intervention.

scholarly journals The Role of Variety in Increasing the Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables Among Children

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Just ◽  
Jesse Lund ◽  
Joseph Price
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
School Lunch ◽  
Practical Information ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Relationship

We use observational data from 22 elementary schools and over 48,000 child-day observations to examine the relationship between the number of fruit and vegetable items and the consumption patterns of children during school lunch. We find that each additional fruit or vegetable item that is offered increases the fraction of children who eat at least one serving of fruits and vegetables by 12 percent. We also use our observational data to provide practical information about which items are most likely to be eaten by children during lunch and compare this to the cost and nutritional quality of these items.

scholarly journals Pathogen resistance may be the principal evolutionary advantage provided by the microbiome

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20190592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. McLaren ◽  
Benjamin J. Callahan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Adaptive Evolution ◽  
Pathogen Resistance ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Direct Inhibition ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage ◽  
Pathogenic Microbes ◽  
Host Evolution

To survive, plants and animals must continually defend against pathogenic microbes that would invade and disrupt their tissues. Yet they do not attempt to extirpate all microbes. Instead, they tolerate and even encourage the growth of commensal microbes, which compete with pathogens for resources and via direct inhibition. We argue that hosts have evolved to cooperate with commensals in order to enhance the pathogen resistance this competition provides. We briefly describe competition between commensals and pathogens within the host, consider how natural selection might favour hosts that tilt this competition in favour of commensals, and describe examples of extant host traits that may serve this purpose. Finally, we consider ways that this cooperative immunity may have facilitated the adaptive evolution of non-pathogen-related host traits. On the basis of these observations, we argue that pathogen resistance vies with other commensal-provided benefits for being the principal evolutionary advantage provided by the microbiome to host lineages across the tree of life. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.

scholarly journals WHEN GENES ARE NOT ENOUGH: GENOMICS AND EPIGENOMICS

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulio Pavesi
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
The Other ◽  
Whole Genome ◽  
Base Pairs ◽  
Dna Molecule ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Sequencing Technologies

Sequencing technologies, that permit to determine the exact sequence of base pairs forming a DNA molecule, have been an historical breakthrough for all life sciences. Their large scale application to the sequencing of entire genomes, like the human genome, has on the other hand revealed some unexpected features of the organization of genes, as well as of the regulation of their expression. This article briefly summarizes how the post-genomic era, in which the whole genome could be studied, instead of the single parts composing it, has brought to the revision and the update of some of the most basic assumptions of classic genetics, as well as the discovery of the fundamental role of the epigenetic regulation of gene expression.

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