Getting the Hologenome Concept Right: an Eco-Evolutionary Framework for Hosts and Their Microbiomes.
Kevin R Theis, Nolwenn M Dheilly, Jonathan L Klassen, Robert M Brucker, John F Baines, Thomas C G Bosch, John F Cryan, Scott F Gilbert, Charles J Goodnight, Elisabeth A Lloyd, Jan Sapp, Philippe Vandenkoornhuyse, Ilana Zilber-Rosenberg, Eugene Rosenberg, Seth R Bordenstein
Author Information
Kevin R Theis: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA; Wayne State University Perinatal Initiative, Detroit, Michigan, USA. ORCID
Nolwenn M Dheilly: School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA. ORCID
Jonathan L Klassen: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA. ORCID
Robert M Brucker: The Rowland Institute at Harvard, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. ORCID
John F Baines: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany; Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany. ORCID
Thomas C G Bosch: Zoological Institute, Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany.
John F Cryan: Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. ORCID
Scott F Gilbert: Department of Biology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA.
Charles J Goodnight: Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA. ORCID
Elisabeth A Lloyd: History and Philosophy of Science Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA. ORCID
Jan Sapp: Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Philippe Vandenkoornhuyse: Université de Rennes 1, CNRS, UMR6553 EcoBio, Rennes, France. ORCID
Eugene Rosenberg: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Seth R Bordenstein: Departments of Biological Sciences and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. ORCID
Given the complexity of host-microbiota symbioses, scientists and philosophers are asking questions at new biological levels of hierarchical organization-what is a holobiont and hologenome? When should this vocabulary be applied? Are these concepts a null hypothesis for host-microbe systems or limited to a certain spectrum of symbiotic interactions such as host-microbial coevolution? Critical discourse is necessary in this nascent area, but productive discourse requires that skeptics and proponents use the same lexicon. For instance, critiquing the hologenome concept is not synonymous with critiquing coevolution, and arguing that an entity is not a primary unit of selection dismisses the fact that the hologenome concept has always embraced multilevel selection. Holobionts and hologenomes are incontrovertible, multipartite entities that result from ecological, evolutionary, and genetic processes at various levels. They are not restricted to one special process but constitute a wider vocabulary and framework for host biology in light of the microbiome.
