Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #holobiont
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The word #Microbiome is derived from the word "biome", i.e. a distinct environmental habitat, in which microbes occupy and are part of. A Microbiome is therefore a spatially distinct environment with unique bio-physical properties AND its associated microbes. 🦠+🏝️
#Microbiota refers to the microbial members of the microbiome. 🦠 This word is therefore strongly related to this microbial biome but it does not concern the environmental conditions of the specified habitat.
I see lots of people and papers still defining #microbiome as a "collection of genes/genomes". Worth knowing though is that "microbiome" is not an -omics word related to the word genome. We have another, more appropriate, word to describe a collection of genomes: #metagenome
Wow this is major 👉 In simple terms, infection can change the #electrical properties of #macrophages in a way that eventually directs the white blood cells away from the site of #infection...allowing the escape of the macrophages that contain pathogens
Also, remember this study? 👉 which found that #bacteria in #biofilm communities not only coordinate their own behavior, but also influence the behavior of diverse species at a distance☝️via ion channel mediated long-range electrical signaling: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
And this study 👉 which found that #bacteria in the human gut can generate #electricity☝️The genes that code for this electrical transfer were identified in hundreds of bacterial species, including human pathogens: nature.com/articles/s4158…
V. thought provoking seminar today @TRI_info by Prof John Huss entitled ‘Ecological medicine & medical ecology’. Discussed were ecological strategies for #coral remediation and the #microbiome. But more interesting was unpacking the #philosophy of biological research!.... (1/12) 
The field of microbiome #research is still very young, and it’s hard to get a handle on what is established and where exactly the field will progress (2/12)
However, there seem to be two different concepts thrown around when people talk about the microbiome:
a) Micro-biome: a biome of microbes, an ecological conception.
b) Microbi-ome: the microbial genome, a molecular conception.
(3/12)
a) Micro-biome: a biome of microbes, an ecological conception.
b) Microbi-ome: the microbial genome, a molecular conception.
(3/12)
