Rees, Tobias, Bosch, Thomas and Douglas, Angela E. (2018) The microbiome and the human: A reply to Parke and colleagues. PLOS Biology, 16 (9). DOI 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006974.

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Abstract

We are grateful to Parke and colleagues [1] for their comment on our recently published essay [2]; it provides a much welcome opportunity to clarify our argument. Parke and colleagues offer two different kinds of critiques.
The first kind is specific to biology and comes in two iterations. (i) Parke and colleagues are concerned that the reference to coconstitution in our essay might be indicative of coevolutionary processes, according to which either the microbiome or the human plus the microbiome is a “unified entity.” This illustrates a common misunderstanding: developmental and physiological integration (or coconstitution) does not necessarily imply or require that the human and its microbiome comprise a single evolutionary unit. We trust that it is evident from the context that our reference to coconstitution relates to physiological processes. (ii) Parke and colleagues worry that “suggesting the whole microbiome is causal is problematic.” We agree entirely with Parke and colleagues. There is an abundance of evidence that individual taxa vary in their impact on the traits and fitness of the host and that the magnitude of this variation can depend on host genotype, environmental factors, and so on. The absence of strict partner fidelity is fully compatible with our statements that key aspects of human function traditionally treated as defining the individual “would not function without their microbes” and that we and our microbes are “physiologically and developmentally united”.

Document Type:	Article
Research affiliation:	Kiel University > Kiel Marine Science OceanRep > The Future Ocean - Cluster of Excellence Kiel University
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	Yes
Publisher:	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Projects:	Future Ocean
Date Deposited:	10 Dec 2018 10:31
Last Modified:	02 Jan 2020 12:18
URI:	https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/44903

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