Thursday, February 4, 2016

Overdue community effort on getting the hologenome concept right


More and more, it is becoming clear that the population biology processes affecting animal and plant phenotypes interface with ecosystems science and the ecology of host-associated microbiomes. Indeed, the so-called individual animal or plant is increasingly appreciated as a "holobiont" comprised of the host plus all of its associated microbes. Resultantly, all genomes of the holobiont have been termed the “hologenome”. These terms and associated concepts are relatively new and liable to misinterpretation. Our new preprint at bioRxiv / manuscript published at mSystems is a community effort to pull various biologists and philosophers together around a definitive set of arguments that accurately reflect the original literature. As the largest collection of authors to date in this area, spanning fifteen junior and senior investigators in the life sciences and philosophy, we think this article will encourage productive discussion to stimulate new ideas and understanding on holobionts and hologenomes that consider the link between phenotype and genotype. I hope you check out the short piece. Feedback is most welcome!

Getting the hologenome concept right: An eco-evolutionary framework for hosts and their microbiomes