Gut biogeography of the bacterial microbiota

The gut microbiota has a strong impact on host physiology. In this Review, Mazmanian and colleagues describe the mechanisms that control the biogeography of bacteria in the gut and discuss the importance of the spatial localization of the gut microbiota during health and disease. Animals assemble and maintain a diverse but host-specific gut microbial community. In addition to characteristic microbial compositions along the longitudinal axis of...