From Molecules to Metabolomes, Understanding Symbiosis through Small Molecules

Symbiosis, from Greek "living together" refers to the close association among organisms. Although these associations are found everywhere in nature, we do not know how these relationships are established or maintained over time. In this Perspective, we will focus on interorganism interactions involving microbes and eukaryotic hosts, particularly animals, plants, and humans, where symbiosis plays a critical role in health, development, and ecological fitness. We will focus on the chemical crosstalk between host and symbiont mediated by specialized small molecules. Finally, we suggest some steps for applying mass spectrometry-based metabolomic approaches to accelerate the understanding of these complex interactions.