BACKGROUND Increasingly, it is recognized that the microbes resident in the
gastrointestinal tract can influence brain physiology and behavior. Research has shown that …

Simple Summary Reproductive systems of cattle contain multiple microbes resident in the
female from a young age. Sometimes other harmful microbes can invade the genital tract …

Many parts of the animal body harbor microbial communities, known as animal-associated
microbiomes, that affect the regulation of physiological functions. Studies in human and …

Microbes colonise all multicellular life, and the gut microbiome has been shown to influence
a range of host physiological and behavioural phenotypes. One of the most intriguing and …

Microbiologists often evaluate microbial community dynamics by formulating functional
hypotheses based on ecological processes. Indeed, many of the methods and terms …

Social behaviour is regulated by activity of host-associated microbiota across multiple
species. However, the molecular mechanisms mediating this relationship remain elusive …

Chemical communication plays many key roles in mammalian reproduction, although
attention has focused particularly on male scent signalling. Here, we review evidence that …

Symbiotic microbes that inhabit animal scent glands can produce volatile compounds used
as chemical signals by the host animal. Though several studies have demonstrated …

Amphibians are known to possess a wide variety of compounds stored in their skin glands.
While significant progress has been made in understanding the chemical diversity and …

To increase fitness, a wide range of vertebrates preferentially mate with partners that are
dissimilar at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) or that have high MHC diversity …