# Elucidating the molecular and ecological design principles of stability and assembly of the human gut microbiota

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2020 · $10,732

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The human gut microbiome is a dense ecosystem that collectively yields functions including diverse chemical
transformations distributed among constituent community members and colonization resistance to intestinal
pathogens that influences human physiology. A detailed and mechanistic understanding of the ecological and
molecular forces that shape the assembly, activity and stability of the gut microbiota are largely unknown.
Central to this problem is systematically mapping unknown inter-species interactions that realize emergent
community-level properties and developing predictive computational models to describe ecosystem behaviors.
We are developing a general framework to dissect the organization principles of the gut microbiota to pinpoint
molecular mechanisms that shape community assembly and stability in response to environmental
perturbations. Our general framework aims to decipher interactions among constituent members of a human
gut microbiome synthetic ecology that mirrors the diversity of the natural system using measurements of lower-
order assemblages to predict multi-species community behaviors. We will map ecological behaviors to
molecules and genetic factors by elucidating gene expression profiles, single-cell phenotypes, genetic
determinants of community structure and function and interrogating metabolic activities using genome-scale
modeling. Leveraging these multifaceted approaches, we will investigate the principles of colonization
resistance to C. difficile, ecological interactions that influence the stability and activity of butyrate-producing
bacteria and molecular mechanisms that enable probiotics to realize stable ecological functions. Our work will
ultimately lead to mathematical and biological principles that describe the complex behaviors of microbial
communities to environmental pressures and will have profound impact across all areas of biology and
medicine.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10054836
- **Project number:** 3R35GM124774-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** Ophelia Venturelli
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $10,732
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10054836

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10054836, Elucidating the molecular and ecological design principles of stability and assembly of the human gut microbiota (3R35GM124774-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10054836. Licensed CC0.

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