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. 2018 Sep;16(9):567-576.
doi: 10.1038/s41579-018-0024-1.

Keystone taxa as drivers of microbiome structure and functioning

Samiran Banerjee  1 , Klaus Schlaeppi  2   3 , Marcel G A van der Heijden  4   5   6
Affiliations

Keystone taxa as drivers of microbiome structure and functioning

Samiran Banerjee et al. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Microorganisms have a pivotal role in the functioning of ecosystems. Recent studies have shown that microbial communities harbour keystone taxa, which drive community composition and function irrespective of their abundance. In this Opinion article, we propose a definition of keystone taxa in microbial ecology and summarize over 200 microbial keystone taxa that have been identified in soil, plant and marine ecosystems, as well as in the human microbiome. We explore the importance of keystone taxa and keystone guilds for microbiome structure and functioning and discuss the factors that determine their distribution and activities.

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  • Reply to 'Can we predict microbial keystones?'.
    Banerjee S, Schlaeppi K, van der Heijden MGA. Banerjee S, et al. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019 Mar;17(3):194. doi: 10.1038/s41579-018-0133-x. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019. PMID: 30538306 No abstract available.
  • Can we predict keystones?
    Röttjers L, Faust K. Röttjers L, et al. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019 Mar;17(3):193. doi: 10.1038/s41579-018-0132-y. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019. PMID: 30542201 No abstract available.

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