Predicting competition and substrate preferences for targeted microbiome alteration

Microbiome science has greatly expanded our understanding of microbial life and its roles in the environment and human health. Yet microbiome science often relies on descriptive, correlation-based approaches that limit causal insight and intentional intervention designs. Moving toward predictive and mechanistic understanding requires functional characterization of microbial interactions and metabolic preferences. Here, we present microbial interaction and niche determination (MIND), which quantifies mRNA translation prioritization to infer substrate preferences and competitive interactions in complex communities. Applied to synthetic communities, soil, human fecal samples, and a mouse model, MIND predicted microbial competition and substrate preferences, guiding precision prebiotic and probiotic interventions to selectively modulate community composition. Currently focused on competition and substrate utilization, MIND could be further extended to capture additional interactions and ecological niches. By linking functional measurements to ecological outcomes, MIND offers a broadly applicable framework for targeted microbiome manipulation and rational intervention design rooted in functional insight.