Abstract
Although social interactions are known to drive pathogen transmission, the contributions of socially transmissible host-associated mutualists and commensals to host health and disease remain poorly explored. We use the concept of the social microbiome—the microbial metacommunity of a social network of hosts—to analyze the implications of social microbial transmission for host health and disease. We investigate the contributions of socially transmissible microbes to both eco-evolutionary microbiome community processes (colonization resistance, the evolution of virulence, and reactions to ecological disturbance) and microbial transmission-based processes (transmission of microbes with metabolic and immune effects, inter-specific transmission, transmission of antibiotic-resistant microbes, and transmission of viruses). We consider the implications of social microbial transmission for communicable and non-communicable diseases and evaluate the importance of a socially transmissible component underlying canonically non-communicable diseases. The social transmission of mutualists and commensals may play a significant, under-appreciated role in the social determinants of health and may act as a hidden force in social evolution.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 17-43 |
Number of pages | 27 |
Journal | Cell |
Volume | 187 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 4 2024 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Keywords
- antibiotic resistance
- antibiotics
- communicable diseases
- immunity
- microbial transmission
- microbiota
- non-communicable diseases
- social determinants of health
- social evolution
- social networks
- social transmission
- social virome