Polymicrobial challenges to Koch's postulates: ecological lessons from the bacterial vaginosis and cystic fibrosis microbiomes

Nelson, Andrew, de Soyza, Anthony, Perry, John, Sutcliffe, Iain and Cummings, Stephen (2012) Polymicrobial challenges to Koch's postulates: ecological lessons from the bacterial vaginosis and cystic fibrosis microbiomes. Innate Immunity, 18 (5). pp. 774-783. ISSN 1753-4267

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Abstract

Koch's postulates have shaped our understanding of infectious diseases; however, one of the tangential consequences of them has been the emergence of a predominantly monomicrobial perspective concerning disease aetiology. This orthodoxy has been undermined by the growing recognition that some important infectious diseases have a polymicrobial aetiology. A significant new development in our understanding of polymicrobial infections is the recognition that they represent functional ecosystems and that to understand such systems and the outcome and impact of therapeutic interventions requires an understanding of how these communities arise and develop. Therefore, it is timely to explore what we can learn from other fields. In particular, ecological theory may inform our understanding of how polymicrobial communities assemble their structure and their dynamics over time. Such work may also offer insights into how such communities move from stable to unstable states, as well as the role of invasive pathogens in the progression of the disease. Ecological theory offers a theoretical framework around which testable hypotheses can be developed to clarify the polymicrobial nature and dynamics of such infections in the face of environmental change and therapeutic interventions.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	polymicrobial, ecology, cystic fibrosis, bacterial vaginosis, neutral assembly
Subjects:	A100 Pre-clinical Medicine C500 Microbiology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Applied Sciences
Depositing User:	Stephen Cummings
Date Deposited:	21 Sep 2012 09:31
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2019 22:45
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/9027

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