Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2025
04:16
Individualized Reconstitution of Human Milk Microbiota: A Feasible Approach in Real-World Settings
Published on: February 7, 2025
533
Deciphering the ecoevolutionary recipe of milk microbiomes
1Molecular and Cell Biology Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
|September 13, 2023
Summary
Mammalian milk microbiomes are surprisingly random. Random events significantly influence how these microbial communities assemble and persist within hosts.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Host-associated microbial communities, or microbiomes, play crucial roles in host health and ecology.
- The factors driving microbiome assembly are complex and debated, with both deterministic and stochastic influences proposed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the assembly processes of mammalian milk microbiomes.
- To determine the relative contribution of stochastic versus deterministic factors in shaping milk microbial communities.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of milk microbiome composition across a diverse range of 47 mammalian species.
- Statistical modeling to differentiate between random and non-random (deterministic) patterns of microbial community assembly.
Main Results:
- Milk microbiome assembly in mammals is predominantly driven by stochastic processes.
- Randomness plays a significant, often underappreciated, role in the establishment and ecological dynamics of host-associated microbiomes.
Conclusions:
- Stochasticity is a key factor in mammalian milk microbiome assembly.
- Future research should consider the impact of random events on microbiome ecology and host-associated microbial communities.
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