Genome-wide sweeps create ecological units in the human gut microbiome

The human gut microbiome is shaped by diverse selective forces that originate from host and environmental factors and it substantially influences health and disease. Whereas the association of microbial lineages with various health conditions has been shown at different taxonomic levels1,2,3,4,5, the extent to which unifying adaptive mechanisms sort microbial lineages into ecologically differentiated populations remains poorly understood.