Metagenomic methods provide an experimental approach to inform the relationships
between hosts and their microbial inhabitants. Previous studies have provided the …

Habitat alteration for agriculture can negatively affect wildlife physiology and health by
decreasing diet diversity and increasing exposure to agrochemicals for animals foraging in …

A number of novel, invertebrate systems have emerged as excellent models for the study of
microbiomes. Due to their small size, evolutionary diversity, ease of culture, and–in many …

Studies in laboratory animals demonstrate important relationships between environment,
host traits, and microbiome composition. However, host-microbiome relationships in natural …

Millions of years of co-evolution between animals and their associated microbial
communities have shaped and diversified the nature of their relationship. Studies continue …

The 'social microbiome'can fundamentally shape the costs and benefits of group-living, but
understanding social transmission of microbes in free-living animals is challenging due to …

In recent years, emerging sequencing technologies and computational tools have driven a
tidal wave of research on host-associated microbiomes, particularly the gut microbiome …

The human microbiome is a key contributor to health and development. Yet little is known
about the ecological forces that are at play in defining the composition of such host …

Variation in the microbiome among individual organisms may play a critical role in the
relative susceptibility of those organisms to infection, disease, and death. However …

Highlights•Animal gut microbiomes impact diverse aspects of host physiology.•Functional
metagenomics of gut microbiomes validate their in vivo roles within hosts.•Bacterial genes …