Keystone taxa as drivers of microbiome structure and functioning

Microorganisms have a pivotal role in the functioning of ecosystems. Recent studies have shown that microbial communities harbour keystone taxa, which drive community composition and function irrespective of their abundance. In this Opinion article, we propose a definition of keystone taxa in microbial ecology and summarize over 200 microbial keystone taxa that have been identified in soil, plant and marine ecosystems, as well as in the human microbiome. We explore the importance of keystone taxa and keystone guilds for microbiome structure and functioning and discuss the factors that determine their distribution and activities. In this Opinion article, Banerjee et al. explore the importance of microbial keystone taxa and keystone guilds in microbiome structure and functioning, describe challenges in the characterization and manipulation of such taxa, and propose a definition of keystone taxa in microbial ecology.