microbiotaresident

Microbiotaresident is a nonstandard term used to denote the resident microbiota of a given body site—the community of microorganisms that remains in place over time and forms a relatively stable association with the host, as opposed to transient microbes that come and go. In this sense, the microbiotaresident encompasses core taxa that consistently colonize a site and contribute to its ecological function.

In humans, resident communities tend to show lower turnover than transient taxa and are established early in life, then maintained by tissue niches, host immunity, and diet. Their composition can vary among individuals and across sites, but a core set of taxa often persists within a given niche. External factors such as antibiotic exposure, aging, diet, and environment can modify the resident microbiotaresident without necessarily eliminating it.

Residents play important roles in host biology. They participate in digestion and metabolism, produce molecules such as vitamins and short-chain fatty acids, help shape immune development, contribute to barrier function, and provide colonization resistance against pathogens by occupying niches and competing for resources.

Determinants of the microbiotaresident include host genetics, anatomy of the site, immune tone, developmental stage, and lifestyle. Studying these communities involves longitudinal sampling and approaches such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing, metagenomics, and meta-transcriptomics, with residency often defined by persistence over time or functional stability.

Clinically, disturbances to the resident microbiotaresident—dysbiosis—are associated with various conditions and are a focus of interventions aimed at maintaining or restoring a resilient microbial community. The term remains informal, used to emphasize the distinction between stable residents and transient visitors in microbial ecology.