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EcoFAB: Advancing microbiome science through standardized fabricated ecosystems

Journal Article · · Nature Methods
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [9];  [2];  [11];  [12];  [13];  [14];  [15];  [16];  [6]
  1. University of California
  2. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
  3. Unknwown
  4. University of California, Berkeley
  5. The Arctic University of Norway - Tromso, Norway
  6. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  7. Stanford University
  8. Ohio State University
  9. National Institute of Standards & Technology
  10. University of California, Davis
  11. PURDUE UNIVERSITY
  12. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  13. Pennsylvania State University
  14. University of Wisconsin-Madison
  15. Colorado State University
  16. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
+ Show Author Affiliations

The vital role microbiomes play in ecosystems and for human health is now apparent. Great progress has been made by using model systems to gain insight into host-microbe interactions, yet lack of standardized reproducible experimental systems and methods greatly limits microbiome science. Recent successes highlight the importance of developing these types of systems to deconstruct mechanisms mediating host-microbe interactions. Standardization of ‘fabricated ecosystems’ would enable detailed mechanistic interrogation and more effective knowledge transfer between researchers – analogous to the significant impact model organisms and cell systems have had in molecular and cell biology. To advance these efforts we advocate for strategies and overarching themes to enable communities of scientists to work together to develop standardized laboratory microbial consortia for studying host-associated microbiomes.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1567192
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-138240
Journal Information:
Nature Methods, Vol. 16, Issue 7
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Environmental stimuli drive a transition from cooperation to competition in synthetic phototrophic communities journal October 2019
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