摘要
Microbiome research is a quickly developing field in biomedical research, and we have witnessed its poten- tial in understanding the physiology, metabolism and immunology, its critical role in understanding the health and disease of the host, and its vast capacity in disease prediction, intervention and treatment. However, many of the fundamental questions still need to be addressed, including the shaping forces of microbial diversity between individuals and across time. Microbiome research falls into the classical nature vs. nurture sce- nario, such that host genetics shape part of the micro- biome, while environmental influences change the original course of microbiome development. In this review, we focus on the nature, i.e., the genetic part of the equation, and summarize the recent efforts in understanding which parts of the genome, especially the human and mouse genome, play important roles in determining the composition and functions of microbial communities, primarily in the gut but also on the skin. We aim to present an overview of different approaches in studying the intricate relationships between host genetic variations and microbes, its underlying philos- ophy and methodology, and we aim to highlight a few key discoveries along this exploration, as well as current pitfalls. More evidence and results will surely appear in upcoming studies, and the accumulating knowledge will lead to a deeper understanding of what we could finally term a ＂hologenome＂, that is, the orga- nized, closely interacting genome of the host and the microbiome.
Microbiome research is a quickly developing field in biomedical research, and we have witnessed its poten- tial in understanding the physiology, metabolism and immunology, its critical role in understanding the health and disease of the host, and its vast capacity in disease prediction, intervention and treatment. However, many of the fundamental questions still need to be addressed, including the shaping forces of microbial diversity between individuals and across time. Microbiome research falls into the classical nature vs. nurture sce- nario, such that host genetics shape part of the micro- biome, while environmental influences change the original course of microbiome development. In this review, we focus on the nature, i.e., the genetic part of the equation, and summarize the recent efforts in understanding which parts of the genome, especially the human and mouse genome, play important roles in determining the composition and functions of microbial communities, primarily in the gut but also on the skin. We aim to present an overview of different approaches in studying the intricate relationships between host genetic variations and microbes, its underlying philos- ophy and methodology, and we aim to highlight a few key discoveries along this exploration, as well as current pitfalls. More evidence and results will surely appear in upcoming studies, and the accumulating knowledge will lead to a deeper understanding of what we could finally term a ＂hologenome＂, that is, the orga- nized, closely interacting genome of the host and the microbiome.
基金
Jun Wang is supported by a ＂1000 Talent＂ Junior program of China and National Science Foundation of China （No. 31771481）
Jun Wang and Liang Chen are supported by the Key Research Program of Chinese Academy of Science Grant No. KFZD-SW-219, ＂China Microbiome Initiative＂. We are extremely grateful for two reviewers＇ input in helping this manuscript.
