A holistic view of host-associated microbial evolution

Microbes often live associated with other organisms. Whereas the impact of microbes on their hosts is well studied, what such a lifestyle means for the microbes is poorly understood. To address this gap, Bansept et al. explore how microbes could evolve to cope with altering between host-associated and host-free lifestyles.

Automated summary

This study examines how microbes adapt to living in host-associated and host-free environments. It addresses the lack of understanding on what this lifestyle means for microbes.