The article "Keystone taxa as drivers of microbiome structure and functioning" by Banerjee, Schlaeppi, and van der Heijden explores the concept of keystone taxa in microbial communities and their significant influence on community composition and microbiome performance. The authors define keystone taxa as those that have a major impact on microbiome structure and function, regardless of their abundance. They review studies from soil, plant, marine ecosystems, and the human microbiome to highlight the importance of keystone taxa and keystone guilds for ecosystem services. The article discusses factors that determine the distribution and activities of keystone taxa, including spatiotemporal heterogeneity and their position within the core microbiome. It also addresses challenges in identifying keystone taxa, such as habitat filtering and the need for experimental validation. The authors emphasize the importance of rare taxa and propose future research directions, including the exploration of keystone taxa in less studied environments and the integration of keystone taxa into ecosystem models.The article "Keystone taxa as drivers of microbiome structure and functioning" by Banerjee, Schlaeppi, and van der Heijden explores the concept of keystone taxa in microbial communities and their significant influence on community composition and microbiome performance. The authors define keystone taxa as those that have a major impact on microbiome structure and function, regardless of their abundance. They review studies from soil, plant, marine ecosystems, and the human microbiome to highlight the importance of keystone taxa and keystone guilds for ecosystem services. The article discusses factors that determine the distribution and activities of keystone taxa, including spatiotemporal heterogeneity and their position within the core microbiome. It also addresses challenges in identifying keystone taxa, such as habitat filtering and the need for experimental validation. The authors emphasize the importance of rare taxa and propose future research directions, including the exploration of keystone taxa in less studied environments and the integration of keystone taxa into ecosystem models.