Microbiome

Abstract

The advancement in current experimental science and its technology have made it possible to understand the interactions of microbes with host, biotic and abiotic factors, and host responses. It has been realized that a single microorganism on its own is insufficient to cause disease in human/plant/animals, unless it is supported by the surrounding environmental factors and the existing mini-ecosystem consisting of various other microbes that may play antagonistic or synergistic roles. Although, in present scenario, one cannot predict or specify the genera, classes, or species of microbes that regulate a disease phenotype, the conclusions drawn from several experimental and human studies strongly suggest the presence and/or the levels of specific microbes comprising a population that govern the host phenotype. The metabolic networking elucidates interplay of metabolomics and metagenomics revealing the correlations between host and gut bacteria in health and disease conditions. This chapter summarizes the dynamics of microbial associations and a mechanism of divergent actions connecting the microbiome prevalent in environmental conditions (soil/marine-to-plant) leading to diverse health concerns. The shaping of host-immune responses as well as modulating effects caused by interaction with drugs is linked with alterations in composition and diversity of microbial community in several studies. However, many questions will remain unanswered before we can bring out the full prognostic and predictive potential utilization of microbiomes.