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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jul 15.
Published in final edited form as: Immunity. 2014 Jun 19;40(6):824–832. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2014.05.015

Figure 1. The microbe-host interface.

Figure 1

Individual differences, including sex-specific differences between men and women (blue and red respectively), may control the microbiota or interact with the microbiota to influence immune function in several ways, including release of metabolites and direct microbial interactions. Much of this interface occurs in the gut (shown inset in the female figure), where the intestinal wall provides an interface between metabolites and immunological processes in the gut and the influence of these metabolites and immunological processes on the host systemically. In addition to normal metabolic function, specialized microbially-produced metabolic products (second inset), such as signaling molecules and antibiotics may play a key and specific role in driving microbial community composition, and subsequently the microbiome.