We all understand “health” as the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being at first. But we are now growing to recognize human health cannot be achieved in silos. The well-being of our planet, animals and plants is closely intertwined with human health, calling for a trans-disciplinary approach: “One Health”. We are also slowly understanding the impact microbial communities have on human, animal and planetary health. For today’s Ninth annual World One Health Day, this #FEMSmicroBlog by Vidya Muthulakshmi explores how microbiomes could be central to a One Health approach! #MicrobiologyEvents
What is the “One Health” approach?
Pioneering microbiologists from Louis Pasteur to Robert Koch already recognized that human and animal health are interconnected. With a surge in technological, industrial and economic development, we have realized that the impact of human activity on the natural ecosystem is also connected to this paradigm.
In 2004, the wildlife conservation society convened a symposium with the theme “One World, One Health”. This conference gave birth to principal recommendations to prevent zoonotic diseases and protecting the ecosystem for the benefit of humans and the diverse flora and fauna.
Fast forward 20 years later, we are witnessing epidemics such as Ebola, AIDS and COVID-19, climate change with rising sea levels and an alarming increase in antibiotic-resistant strains. Though One Health is not an entirely new concept, these recent events signal us more than ever to take action.
But achieving the well-beings of animals, plants, humans and the planet is beyond the scope of resources and knowledge of just a single discipline or nation. Instead, we need a forward-thinking transdisciplinary approach, breaking borders beyond doctors, scientists, and policy makers; everyone needs to join the One Health community.
Can understanding microbiomes pave the way for One Health?
In the context of One Health, soil, root, the ruminant and human gut are critical sites of microbial activity, as outlined in the review “Life at the borderlands: microbiomes of interfaces critical to One Health” in FEMS Microbiology Reviews.
Microbial species are recruited to the host-environment interface leading to positive or negative impacts for the host depending on the constituent microbial community. For example, bacterial species in the soil directly impact planetary health through carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and degradation of toxic metals and xenobiotics.
The soil microbiome can be recruited to the plant root through the rhizosphere. Grazing behavior of animals and successive food intake of plant or meat by humans is an established route for plant-borne microbiomes into existing human microbial communities.
The critical role of microbial communities is recognized within the concept of the Microbiome One Health Model. The review outlines the complex relationships between microbial communities and different hosts within the One Health context.
How can microbiome research help achieve One Health?
Research to understand the role of microbiomes in individual host environments is underway. However, metabolically versatile microorganisms cross borders beyond a single host. Though critical to the One Health approach, it is even more challenging to study them at the interfaces where they are continuously changing.
In addition, predicting the functions of microbial communities from taxonomy alone is not effective as distantly related species may perform similar roles. Hence, diverse technological tools are needed to predict microbial functions at critical One Health interfaces.
Multi-omic approaches are increasingly used to characterise temporal variations in microbial composition and their functionalities. Integrating imaging technologies can help us understand the sites of genetic and metabolic information transfer. Additionally, fluorescent in-situ hybridization techniques shed light on the spatial resolution of single-cell gene expression within microbial communities.
Results from these studies allow us to predict the capabilities of genome-scale metabolic models for microbial communities, simulating the metabolic reactions of an organism or community towards various stimuli.
Applying these tools at One Health interfaces can provide insights into host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions. These will help us better understand microbiome recruitment, attachment and succession at interfaces important to the health of our planet, animals and us.
The interconnectivity between microbes, their hosts and the environment is becoming more clear thanks to innovative technological interventions in microbiome research. As these open avenues for delivering One Health outcomes, global awareness is also slowly increasing.
This One Health Day, let us raise awareness and join hands towards a holistic and innovative approach. Happy One Health Day!
- Read the article “Life at the borderlands: microbiomes of interfaces critical to One Health” in FEMS Microbiology Review by Law et al. (2024).
About the author
Vidya Muthulakshmi Manickavasagam is a bioprocess engineer, pursuing a PhD at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India and interning in science communication. She is passionate about contributing to the development of sustainable biomanufacturing processes. She enjoys diving deep and comprehending new concepts and aspires to write about the latest scientific developments to a broader community. Outside of her work, she enjoys reading, dancing Bharathanatyam, cooking and exploring historical places.
About this blog section
The section #MicrobiologyEvents for the #FEMSmicroBlog reports about events and meetings relevant to our network. These include world awareness days, FEMS-sponsored meetings or meetings of Member Societies and many more.
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