The gastrointestinal tract is the only internal organ to have evolved with its own independent
nervous system, known as the enteric nervous system (ENS). This Review provides an …

The holobiont (host with its endocellular and extracellular microbiome) can function as a
distinct biological entity, an additional organismal level to the ones previously considered …

The health and fitness of animals, including humans, are influenced by the presence and
composition of resident microbial communities. The development of rational microbial …

Phylosymbiosis was recently formulated to support a hypothesis-driven framework for the
characterization of a new, cross-system trend in host-associated microbiomes. Defining …

A highly conserved but convoluted network of neurons and glial cells, the enteric nervous
system (ENS), is positioned along the wall of the gut to coordinate digestive processes and …

How does neural activity drive muscles to produce behavior? The recent development of
genetic lines in Hydra that allow complete calcium imaging of both neuronal and muscle …

Stony corals build the framework of coral reefs, ecosystems of immense ecological and
economic importance. The existence of these ecosystems is threatened by climate change …

The enteric nervous system (ENS) of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract interacts with the local
immune system bidirectionally. Recent publications have demonstrated that such …

Microbes are widely recognized to be vital to host health. This new consensus rests, in part,
on experiments showing how hosts malfunction when microbes are removed. More and …

Although recent studies indicate the impact of microbes on the central nervous systems and
behavior, it remains unclear how the relationship between the functionality of the nervous …