Microbiomes are ecosystems, and their stability can impact the health of their hosts. Theory predicts that predators influence ecosystem stability. Phages are key predators of bacteria in microbiomes, but phages are unusual predators because many have lysogenic life cycles. It has been hypothesized that lysogeny can destabilize microbiomes, but lysogeny has no direct analog in classical ecological theory, and no formal theory exists. We studied the stability of computationally simulated microbiomes with different numbers of temperate (lysogenic) and virulent (obligate lytic) phage species. Bacterial populations were more likely to fluctuate over time when there were more temperate phages species. After disturbances, bacterial populations returned to their pre‐disturbance densities more slowly when there were more temperate phage species, but cycles engendered by disturbances dampened more slowly when there were more virulent phage species. Our work offers the first formal theory linking lysogeny to microbiome stability.

中文翻译：

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溶原性破坏了计算模拟的微生物组的稳定性


微生物组是生态系统，其稳定性会影响宿主的健康。理论预测捕食者会影响生态系统的稳定性。噬菌体是微生物组中细菌的主要捕食者，但噬菌体是不寻常的捕食者，因为许多噬菌体具有溶原性生命周期。有人假设溶原性可以破坏微生物组的稳定，但溶原性在经典生态理论中没有直接的类似物，并且不存在正式的理论。我们研究了具有不同数量的温和（溶原性）和剧毒（专性裂解）噬菌体物种的计算模拟微生物组的稳定性。当温带噬菌体种类较多时，细菌种群更容易随着时间的推移而波动。干扰后，当温带噬菌体种类较多时，细菌种群恢复到干扰前密度的速度会更慢，但当剧毒噬菌体种类较多时，干扰引起的循环抑制得更慢。我们的工作提供了第一个将溶原性与微生物组稳定性联系起来的正式理论。