{"title":"The role of mobile genetic elements in adaptation of the microbiota to the dynamic human gut ecosystem","authors":"Katherine Schubert, Teni Shosanya, Leonor García-Bayona","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2025.102675","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The human intestinal microbiota is a dynamic ecosystem shaped by extensive horizontal gene transfer, particularly in individuals from industrialized populations. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of how mobile genetic elements (MGEs) contribute to microbial ecology and evolution in this diverse community, focusing on MGEs carrying fitness-conferring genes. Bacteroidales species can colonize individuals for decades and serve as major hubs for MGE exchange. Most MGEs are highly variable across individuals and geographies. Occasionally, conserved MGEs can spread across geography and lifestyles. Functional characterizations of MGEs reveal their roles in antibiotic resistance, interbacterial antagonism, biofilm formation, immune evasion, and nutrient acquisition, among others. Substantive progress in our understanding of MGEs in the gut microbiome offers promising avenues for therapeutic microbiome interventions. However, major challenges remain in functional prediction, host-MGE linkage, and experimental characterization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"88 ","pages":"Article 102675"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current opinion in microbiology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369527425000979","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The human intestinal microbiota is a dynamic ecosystem shaped by extensive horizontal gene transfer, particularly in individuals from industrialized populations. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of how mobile genetic elements (MGEs) contribute to microbial ecology and evolution in this diverse community, focusing on MGEs carrying fitness-conferring genes. Bacteroidales species can colonize individuals for decades and serve as major hubs for MGE exchange. Most MGEs are highly variable across individuals and geographies. Occasionally, conserved MGEs can spread across geography and lifestyles. Functional characterizations of MGEs reveal their roles in antibiotic resistance, interbacterial antagonism, biofilm formation, immune evasion, and nutrient acquisition, among others. Substantive progress in our understanding of MGEs in the gut microbiome offers promising avenues for therapeutic microbiome interventions. However, major challenges remain in functional prediction, host-MGE linkage, and experimental characterization.
期刊介绍:
Current Opinion in Microbiology is a systematic review journal that aims to provide specialists with a unique and educational platform to keep up-to-date with the expanding volume of information published in the field of microbiology. It consists of 6 issues per year covering the following 11 sections, each of which is reviewed once a year:
Host-microbe interactions: bacteria
Cell regulation
Environmental microbiology
Host-microbe interactions: fungi/parasites/viruses
Antimicrobials
Microbial systems biology
Growth and development: eukaryotes/prokaryotes