Science

Microbiomes: A Very Short Introduction

This accessible introduction to the science of microbiomes brings together fundamental research on animal and plant microbiomes with both biomedical and agricultural application. Particular emphasis is given to developing therapies designed to support and restore healthy microbiomes. Readers are provided with the concepts and information they need to sift fact and reasonable expectation from fiction and bogus claims.

Douglas AE, 2022. Microbiomes: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Available at Oxford University Press

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Insects and their Beneficial Microbes

This book provides a much-needed conceptual framework for the growing discipline of insect-microbial interactions, synthesizing molecular, physiological, ecological and evolutionary perspectives. It distils the vast literature in entomology and microbiology, as well as the burgeoning microbiome literature, to explore the full scope of insect-microbial interactions and their applications to real-world problems in agriculture and medicine.

Douglas AE, 2022. Insects and their Beneficial Microbes. Princeton University Press.

Available at Princeton University Press

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Fundamentals of Microbiome Science

An essential guide to the fast-moving new field of microbiome science, which is reshaping many aspects of the life sciences. Microbiome science presents a more complete picture of the biology of humans and other animals, and it can deliver novel therapies for many medical conditions and new strategies for pest control. A core message of the book is that microbiome science demands creative and interdisciplinary thinking―the capacity to combine microbiology with animal physiology, ecological theory with immunology, and evolutionary perspectives with metabolic science.

Douglas AE, 2018. Fundamentals of Microbiome Science: How Microbes Shape Animal Biology. Princeton University Press.

Available at Princeton University Press

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The Insects Structure And Function

This 5th edition of Reg Chapman’s classic insect physiology textbook is the work of a team of eminent insect biologists, edited by Steve Simpson and me. We have retained the successful structure of Reg’s book, focusing on functional systems rather than taxonomic groups, while offering a modern synthesis of insect anatomy and physiology, and examining how these relate to behavior.

Simpson SJ and Douglas AE (editors) 2012. The Insects – Structure and Function. Cambridge University Press.

Available at Cambridge University Press

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The Symbiotic Habit

Organisms form alliances to combat enemies (predators, pathogens, etc.) and to thrive on otherwise inadequate resources and inclement conditions. This book explores how symbioses (meaning persistent alliances between different species) display a broad uniformity of mechanism and process, despite the diversity of the partners, evolutionary history and ecological circumstance.

Douglas AE, 2010. The Symbiotic Habit. Princeton University Press.

Available at Princeton University Press

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Symbiotic Interactions

The conceptual framework for this book is that animals and plant acquire novel capabilities by exploiting the greater metabolic functions of microorganisms. Examples illustrating this concept include photosynthetic algae in corals, nitrogen-fixing bacteria in plant roots, and cellulose-degrading micro-organisms in herbivorous mammals. These intimate relationships are maintained by the exchange of nutrients and signals.

Douglas AE l994. Symbiotic Interactions. Oxford University Press.

Available at Oxford University Press

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The Biology of Symbiosis

This book reviews the traditional literature on the diversity of symbioses between microorganisms and their animal and plant hosts. Different types of associations are compared, and the common principles underlying symbiotic phenomena are identified.

Smith DC and Douglas AE l987. The Biology of Symbiosis. Edward Arnold.

Available at Cambridge University Press

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A Selection of Research Publications

A mathematical model of animal and microbial life cycles in patchy habitats reveals that microbes can become enriched in animal hosts without conferring benefit; setting the stage for the subsequent evolution of mutualistic symbioses.

Sieber M, Traulsen A, Schulenburg H and Douglas AE, 2021. On the evolutionary origins of host-microbe associations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 118: e2016487118. Pubmed Link

Metabolite cross-feeding between host cells bearing functionally distinct microbial symbionts promotes the energetic efficiency of essential amino acid provisioning in an insect-microbial symbiosis.

Ankrah NYD, Wilkes RA, Zhang F, Zhu D, Kaweesi T and Douglas AE, 2020. Syntrophic splitting of central carbon metabolism in host cells bearing functionally-different symbiotic bacteria.  The ISME Journal 14: 1982-1993. Pubmed Link

A cell bearing symbiotic bacteria is transferred to each sexual egg of whiteflies and retained through embryo development, leading to the maternal inheritance of a somatic cell with divergent genotype from other cells in the insect body.

Luan J, Sun X, Fei Z and Douglas AE, 2018. Maternal inheritance of a single somatic animal cell displayed by the bacteriocyte in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Current Biology 28: 459-465. Pubmed Link

The impact of gut microbes on host nutritional indices, including fat deposition, in the fruitfly Drosophila is determined by host genotype, especially genes functioning in nutritional signaling.

Dobson AJ*, Chaston JM*, Newell PD, Donahue L, Hermann SL, Sannino DR, Westmiller S, Wong A, Clark AG, Lazzaro BP and Douglas AE 2015. Host genetic determinants of microbiota-dependent nutrition revealed by genome-wide analysis of Drosophila melanogaster. Nature Communications 6, 6312. [*Joint first authors] Pubmed Link

The resistance of the coral Goniastrea aspera to bleaching is promoted by prior experience of high light/temperature, and not by the genetic identity of its algal symbionts.

Brown BE, Dunne RP, Goodson MS and Douglas AE 2000. Bleaching patterns in reef corals. Nature 404, 142-3. Pubmed Link