This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(October 2018)
Diverse microbial communities of characteristic microbiota are part of plant microbiomes, and are found on the outside surfaces and in the internal tissues of the host plant, as well as in the surrounding soil.[1]
The microbiome and host emerged during evolution as a synergistic unit from epigenetics and genetic characteristics, sometimes collectively referred to as a holobiont.[7][8] The presence of microbiota in human and other metazoan guts has been critical for understanding the co-evolution between metazoans and bacteria.[9][10] Microbiota play key roles in the intestinal immune and metabolic responses via their fermentation product (short-chain fatty acid), acetate.[11]
^"Evolution of the human gut flora".
Andrew H. Moeller, Yingying Li, Eitel Mpoudi Ngole, Steve Ahuka-Mundeke, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Anne E. Pusey, Martine Peeters, Beatrice H. Hahn, Howard Ochman.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Nov 2014, 111 (46) 16431–16435; doi:10.1073/pnas.1419136111