Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 9(110), p. 3229-3236, 2013

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218525110

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Animals in a bacterial world, a new imperative for the life sciences

Journal article published in 2013 by Margaret McFall-Ngai, Michael G. Hadfield, Thomas C. G. Bosch, Hannah V. Carey, Hadfield Mg, Tomislav Domazet-Lošo, Angela E. Douglas, Bosch Tc, Carey Hv, Nicole Dubilier ORCID, Gerard Eberl, Tadashi Fukami, Scott F. Gilbert, Douglas Ae, Ute Hentschel and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Red circle
Preprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Upload
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Policy details
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

In the last two decades, the widespread application of genetic and genomic approaches has revealed a bacterial world astonishing in its ubiquity and diversity. This review examines how a growing knowledge of the vast range of animal–bacterial interactions, whether in shared ecosystems or intimate symbioses, is fundamentally altering our understanding of animal biology. Specifically, we highlight recent technological and intellectual advances that have changed our thinking about five questions: how have bacteria facilitated the origin and evolution of animals; how do animals and bacteria affect each other’s genomes; how does normal animal development depend on bacterial partners; how is homeostasis maintained between animals and their symbionts; and how can ecological approaches deepen our understanding of the multiple levels of animal–bacterial interaction. As answers to these fundamental questions emerge, all biologists will be challenged to broaden their appreciation of these interactions and to include investigations of the relationships between and among bacteria and their animal partners as we seek a better understanding of the natural world.