Article notes - Introduction to Microbiomes Flashcards
What is a microbiome? what organisms may it contain?
A microbiome is a community of microorganisms, which includes archaea, eukaryotes like fungi and protists, bacteria, and viruses.
Where are they found?
These microbiomes can be found in every habitat on our planet ranging from the
deep ocean to the atmosphere and within our bodies.
Name three significant impediments to being able to study the organisms in microbiomes?
The most significant reasons as to why microbiomes have not been heavily
researched back in the day is because historically the research approach has been
observing visible organisms and microbes take up a small space. Many microbes
cannot be grown in a lab setting and this limits the understanding and discovery of these microbes
What is the most significant technological advancement that has enabled research on
microbiomes?
DNA sequencing is what allowed for the advancement on research with microbes
as it gave scientists a way to collect information on these species without having
to rely on a microscope or the growth of them in lab
What major category of organism was distinguished by studies facilitated by this
technique?
Before DNA sequencing, the major division in the tree of life, Archaea, was not
yet discovered. Scientists believed archaea to just be bacteria due to their shape
and size but using DNA samples it helped discover this new branch.
What can we learn about humans by studying microbes?
Microbes are intertwined with the planet and all other organisms. They created the
atmospheric conditions which made the Earth more habitable. Organisms also rely on microbes for their abilities to gain nutrient or resources
What can we learn about biology in general by studying microbes?
Microbes are skillful problem solvers, and they can easily adapt to a variety of
environments and conditions, which helps to see different ways to solve biological issues.
They inspire scientists with new solutions to problems and help uncover the nature of biology
What parts of our bodies are colonized?
Our skin, digestive tract, and gastrointestinal tract have all been colonized with
microbes
How do the organisms in the microbiome affect us? Is it good or bad?
There are normal microbiomes within the human body, some microbes are good and others are bad, but for example gut microbiomes produce vitamins and help digest food. Some microbes have also been linked to our health, some being linked to obesity and mental illness
What efforts have been launched to study the organisms that colonize humans?
In order to study the organisms that colonize humans, the Human Microbiome Project was published. This project collected fecal samples from individuals which helped established what healthy microbes are and which could cause diseases within humans. Another project like the American Gut Project, collected fecal samples from people all over the world
Describe ways in which microbial communities contribute to food production
Microbial communities contribute to food production in fermented foods. They are made with the growth of beneficial microbes which leads to the growth of acids for dairy foods, or ethanol for alcoholic drinks. They also prevent the growth of pathogens that would cause the food to spoil
How has cheese turned out to be a useful model of environmental microbiomes?
Cheese is a useful model as it is easy to be cultured in the lab which helps with
the development of the microbes and can be easily studied. It has helped to study how microbes fight for resources or how they break down molecules
Besides contributing to our food, what are other benefits of environmental microbiomes?
These microbiomes also help with releasing oxygen to the atmosphere. Blue-
green algae is the main producer of oxygen in the atmosphere. They use sunlight to produce food for themselves and oxygen for the atmosphere
Why has it been more difficult to study the virome, than bacteria of the microbiome?
What makes them so difficult to study is that they do not make their own ribosomes, which rules out ribosomal genes sequencing. They also are very diverse and complex; they have no genes that are conserved across all of them
How has this problem been overcome? What do we call this strategy?
To overcome these scientists moved on to the next sequencing method called
metagenomics. Metagenomics sequences all DNA in the sample, which helps with microbes as it includes any genomes present.
