Microbiomes of Soils, Plants and Animals: An Integrated Approach (Ecological Reviews)

"Through a long history of co-evolution, multicellular organisms form a complex of host cells plus many associated microorganism species. Consisting of algae, bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists and viruses, and collectively referred to as the microbiome, these microorganisms contribute to a range of important functions in their hosts, from nutrition, to behaviour and disease susceptibility. In this book, a diverse and international group of active researchers outline how multicellular organisms have become reliant on their microbiomes to function, and explore this vital interdependence across the breadth of soil, plant, animal and human hosts. They draw parallels and contrasts across hosts in different environments, and discuss how this invisible microbial ecosystem influences everything from the food we eat, to our health, to the correct functioning of ecosystems we depend on. This insightful read also pertinently encourages students and researchers in microbial ecology, ecology, and microbiology to consider how this interdependence may be key to mitigating environmental changes and developing microbial biotechnology to improve life on Earth."-- La 4e de couverture "The study of microbes and how they interact with the environment and their hosts has a fascinating history. Remarkably, we first managed to visualise microorganisms over 300 years ago. In the mid seventeenth century, Robert Hooke used a microscope to present the first scientific depiction of a fungus (Hooke, 1665), and shortly thereafter, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek used a singlelens microscope to describe the 'animalcules' that we now know to have been bacteria and protists (Van Leeuwenhoek, 1677; Lane, 2015). Two hundred years later, Angelina Fanny Hesse pioneered the use of agar media instead of a gelatin-based alternative to culture bacteria (Hitchens & Leikind, 1939) that subsequently allowed the isolation of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (Koch, 1882)"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Front Matter 3 Ecological Reviews 5 Microbiomes of Soils, Plants and Animals: An Integrated Approach 7 Copyrigh 8 Contents 9 Contributors 10 Preface 13 Abbreviations 14 1 Microbiomes of soils, plants and animals: an introduction 17 2 Analytical approaches for microbiome research 24 3 Microbiomes of soils 45 4 Factors that shape the host microbiome 71 5 Microbial symbioses and host nutrition 94 6 The microbiome and host behaviour 114 7 Host microbiomes and disease 138 8 Adapting to environmental change 170 9 Microbial biotechnology 198 10 Synthesis and future directions 238 Index 243 Plate Section 253 Covering the breadth of topics in microbiome research, this book explores the interdependence between microbiomes and plant, animal and human hosts, across a range of ecosystems. Leading contributors draw parallels and contrasts, and discuss how microbiomes influence everything from the food we eat, to organismal health and ecosystem functioning. A Comparative, Holistic Synthesis Of Microbiome Research, Spanning Soil, Plant, Animal And Human Hosts.