Dysbiosis

Dysbiosis (also called dysbacteriosis) is characterized by a disruption to the microbiome resulting in an imbalance in the microbiota, changes in their functional composition and metabolic activities, or a shift in their local distribution.^[1][2] For example, a part of the human microbiota such as the skin flora, gut flora, or vaginal flora, can become deranged (unbalanced), when normally dominating species become underrepresented and species that normally are outcompeted or contained increase to fill the void. Similar to the human gut microbiome, diverse microbes colonize the plant rhizosphere, and dysbiosis in the rhizosphere, can negatively impact plant health.^[3] Dysbiosis is most commonly reported as a condition in the gastrointestinal tract^[2] or plant rhizosphere.^[3]

Typical microbial colonies found on or in the body are benign or beneficial. These appropriately sized microbial colonies carry out a series of helpful and necessary functions, such as aiding in digestion.^[4] They also help protect the body from infiltration by pathogenic microbes. These beneficial microbial colonies compete with each other for space and resources.^[5] However, when this balance is disturbed, these colonies exhibit a decreased ability to check each other's growth, which can then lead to overgrowth of one or more of the disturbed colonies which may further damage some of the other smaller beneficial ones in a vicious cycle. As more beneficial colonies are damaged, making the imbalance more pronounced, more overgrowth issues occur because the damaged colonies are less able to check the growth of the overgrowing ones. If this goes unchecked long enough, a pervasive and chronic imbalance between colonies will set in, which ultimately minimizes the beneficial nature of these colonies as a whole.^[6]