Emergent simplicity in microbial community assembly
A major unresolved question in microbiome research is whether the complex taxonomic architectures observed in surveys of natural communities can be explained and predicted by fundamental, quantitative principles.
This paper examines the emergence of communities in soil- and plant-derived microbiomes by using a well-controlled minimal media. It shows that coarse-grained understanding of the communities is possible based on nutrient availability, despite of species variability.