We are but a fruiting body of our genome!
A holobiont is an assemblage of a host and the many other species living in or around it, which together form a discrete ecological unit. Both inside and out, our bodies harbor a huge array of micro-organisms. While bacteria are the biggest players, we also host single-celled organisms known as archaea, as well as fungi, viruses and other microbes – including viruses that attack bacteria. Together these are dubbed the human microbiota. Your body’s microbiome is all the genes your microbiota contains, however colloquially the two terms are often used interchangeably.
