Bridging the Gap between Analytical and Microbial Sciences in Microbiome Research

Abstract

Metabolites from the microbiome influence human, animal, and environmental health, but the diversity and functional roles of these compounds have only begun to be elucidated. Comprehensively characterizing these molecules are significant challenges, as it requires expertise in analytical methods, such as mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, skills that not many traditional microbiologists or microbial ecologists possess. This creates a gap between microbiome scientists that want to understand the role of microbial metabolites in microbiome systems and the skills required to generate and interpret complex metabolomics data sets. To bridge this gap, microbiome scientists should engage analytical chemists to best understand the underlying chemical principles of the data. Conversely, analytical scientists are encouraged to engage with microbiome scientists to better understand the biological questions being asked with metabolomics and to best communicate its intricacies. Better communication across the chemistry/biology disciplines will further reveal the “dark matter” within microbiomes that maintain healthy humans and environments.