In celebration of the international collaboration between the British Society for Immunology (BSI) and the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) we have curated a joint collection of articles based around the theme “Immunology and the Microbiome”.
Here we feature research and reviews from Society journals, Immunology and Immunology & Cell Biology, highlighting the interactions between the microbiome and host immune system. Research has shown how changes in the host environment can drastically impact the microbiota, for better or worse. These microbial changes, usually acting through now well-defined molecular mechanisms, often impact the host immune response. In these papers we outline how changes in the microbiome influence immune regulation and can play a role in diseases like cancer, stroke, diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.
This collection of articles and our accompanying editorials from Immunology and Immunology & Cell Biology begin to dissect the complex partnership that continues to evolve between microbes and humans. We invite you to explore the series and enjoy learning more about the details of this fascinating work.
Editorials
Immunological partners: the gut microbiome in homeostasis and disease

Anne Camille La Flamme, Simon Milling
"Focusing on the articles from Immunology, there are key central themes that arise: the changing nature of this relationship over time, how diet influences the microbiota and consequently the immune system, and how individual components of the innate and adaptive immune systems interact with the gut microbiome to regulate and balance the complex network."
La Flamme, A.C. and Milling, S. (2020), Immunological partners: the gut microbiome in homeostasis and disease. Immunology, 161: 1-3. doi:10.1111/imm.13247
A joint spotlight on research into the microbial immunity: beyond mere correlations

Simon Milling, Anne Camille La Flamme
"The ICB articles cover a wide range of topics, from reviews describing mechanistic interactions with components of the immune system, through original articles describing novel molecular interactions with the microbiota and their influence on inflammation and vaccine responses, to investigations of the relationships between the microbiota and diabetes in NOD mice, and in patients with stroke."
Milling, S. and La Flamme, A.C. (2020), A joint spotlight on research into the microbial immunity: beyond mere correlations. Immunol Cell Biol, 98: 614-616. doi:10.1111/imcb.12393
Immunology
Impacts of microbiome metabolites on immune regulation and autoimmunity
S. Haase, A. Haghikia, N. Wilck, D. N. Müller, R. A. Linker
Adaptive immune education by gut microbiota antigens
Q. Zhao, C. O. Elson
Growing, evolving and sticking in a flowing environment: understanding IgA interactions with bacteria in the gut
D. Hoces, M. Arnoldini, M. Diard, C. Loverdo, E. Slack
Gut eosinophils and their impact on the mucus‐resident microbiota
G. Singh, A. Brass, C. G. Knight, S. M. Cruickshank
Complex dietary polysaccharide modulates gut immune function and microbiota, and promotes protection from autoimmune diabetes
R. Gudi, N. Perez, B. M. Johnson, M. H. Sofi, R. Brown, S. Quan S. Karumuthil‐Melethil, C. Vasu
Depletion of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells is accompanied by an increase in the relative abundance of Firmicutes in the murine gut microbiome
J. Kehrmann, L. Effenberg, C. Wilk, D. Schoemer, N. N. T. Phuong A. Adamczyk, E. Pastille, R. Scholtysik, L. Klein‐Hitpass, R. Klopfleisch, A. M. Westendorf, J. Buer
Immunology & Cell Biology
The microbiome and immune memory formation
K. D. McCoy, R.Burkhard, M. B. Geuking
The immune system and stroke: from current targets to future therapy
K. Malone, S Amu, A. C. Moore, C. Waeber
MAIT cells and microbial immunity
E. W. Meermeier, M. J. Harriff, E. Karamooz, D. M. Lewinsohn
Early-life exposure to gut microbiota from disease-protected mice does not impact disease outcome in type 1 diabetes susceptible NOD mice
J. A. Mullaney, J. E. Stephens, B. E. Geeling, E. E. Hamilton‐Williams
Genetic regulation of antibody responsiveness to immunization in substrains of BALB/c mice
H. C. Poyntz, A. Jones, R. Jauregui, W. Young et al
The anti-inflammatory IFITM genes ameliorate colitis and partially protect from tumorigenesis by changing immunity and microbiota
Z. Alteber, A. Sharbi‐Yunger, M. Pevsner‐Fischer, D. Blat, L. Roitman, E. Tzehoval, E. Elinav, L. Eisenbach