Introduction
When it comes to the formation of a unique environmental unit, a holobiont can link an individual host to a variety of interactive microorganisms, and microbiota (Bachmann et al. 2017). According to Casadevall and Pirofski (2014), the holobiont relationship explores the connection between microbiome and microbiota. Microbiomes refer to a broad habitat composed primarily of microorganisms, genomes, and environmental conditions (Hadfield and Bosch 2020). In addition, bionts are regarded by scientists as one of the primary individual organisms that can generate a hologenome composed of the consolidated genomes of all bionts. A holobiont could be described as a connection between a specific host and its microbiota in simpler terms. On the other hand, the hologenome concept depicts the whole of the holobiont’s metagenome.
Application of the Holobiont in Humans
The human gut presents a holobiont relationship with the microbiota. In analyzing the human gut and microbiota, a positive correlation is obtained between the two. Notably, a humanistic view of the relationship illustrates a functional level of homeostasis and equilibrium between microbiota and the host. Nonetheless, incidents of disruption generally make the body more vulnerable to illnesses (Casadevall and Pirofski 2014). Hadfield and Bosch (2020) state that the human gut can showcase a holobiont relationship in humans, where the result can be either positive or negative. As such, microbiome manipulation has the potential to cure and deter illnesses that were common and hard to treat before manipulation (Bachmann et al. 2017). Recent research findings submit that a dysfunctional holobiont association has the potential to cause illnesses (Casadevall and Pirofski 2014). Hence, whether chronic or acute, most ailments are thought to be preceded by a disruption of the microbiome.
How an ailment can modify the Human Holobiont
Pathobionts constitute preliminarily harmless microbes in modified settings with illness-carrying capability. In the human holobiont, there is a resilient equilibrium that exists between the microbiota and host (van de Guchte, Blottière, and Doré 2018). The optimistic, stable relation is primarily sustained by an increased microbial variation, an elaborate and sophisticated molecular crosswalk, and other dynamic holobiont organizations (Liu et al. 2017). However, pathobionts may attack the host and eventually change their usefulness, therefore causing damage.
Disease Class and Potential Treatment Modality
The disease class chosen for the study is where the etiology of the illness is a pathogen. According to Liu et al. (2017), pathobionts can either be exogenous or endogenous. Endogenous pathobionts do have the ability to thrive on or within the recipient’s body. In contrast, exogenous pathogens are fond of invading the victim’s inconvenient conditions (van de Guchte, Blottière, and Doré 2018). As such, it is safe to state that the holobiont concept is only beginning to be understood in its complexity and dynamics. It has been established that most external substances that affect the holobiont can change the microbiome, leading to adaptation and evolution, as well as dysbiosis and disease (Rosenberg and Zilber-Rosenberg 2016). A new or altered microbiome may become health-perturbing pathobionts, leading to infection.
Microbiota can be used to treat diarrhea that is, most of the time, caused by Clostridium difficile. The treatment is called Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) and entails the transfer of an altered microbial stool strain from a healthy individual to the recipient’s intestinal tract) (Rosenberg and Zilber-Rosenberg, 2016). The majority of patients whose recovery had earlier failed due to an antibiotic’s initial treatment are reported to have recovered through FMT.
References
Guchte, Maarten van de, Hervé M. Blottière, and Joël Doré. 2018. “Humans as holobionts: implications for prevention and therapy.” Microbiome 6 (1): 81. Web.
Liu, Jay, Brett Williams, Daniel Frank, Stephanie M. Dillon, Cara C. Wilson, and Alan L. Landay. 2017. “Inside out: HIV, the gut microbiome, and the mucosal immune system.” The Journal of Immunology 198 (2): 6g05–14. Web.
Rosenberg, Eugene, and Ilana Zilber-Rosenberg. 2016. “Microbes drive evolution of animals and plants: The hologenome concept.” MBio 7 (2): Web.
Hadfield, Michael G., and Thomas CG Bosch. 2020. “Cellular dialogues between hosts and microbial symbionts: Generalities emerging.” In cellular dialogues in the holobiont, 287–290. CRC Press.
Bachmann, Radu, Daniel Leonard, Nathalie Delzenne, Alex Kartheuser, and Patrice D Cani. 2017. “Novel insight into the role of microbiota in colorectal surgery.” Gut 66 (4): 738–49.
Casadevall, Arturo, and Liise-anne Pirofski. 2014. “Microbiology: Ditch the term pathogen.” Nature 516 (7530): 165–66.