Do Vertebrate Gut Metagenomes Confer Rapid Ecological Adaptation?

Alberdi, Antton; Aizpurua, Ostaizka; Bohmann, Kristine; Mendoza, Marie Lisandra Zepeda; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.06.008

Cited by 287 publications

(342 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

334

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…But, what might drive the unexpected taxonomic pattern seen in the PS group? Colonisation history and priority effects can have a strong influence on community succession2121847; therefore, the existing gut communities in these larvae likely have a role in the observed pattern. Perhaps the lower bacterial diversity of pond larvae prohibits community conversion to that of the SS controls.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence increasingly supports the idea that host microbiota has a role in vertebrate phenomic plasticity (that is, the capacity of a single genotype to change its expression so as to exhibit different phenotypes in response to environmental pressures12), and may be influencing vertebrate host evolution126263. The capacity of a host's gut microbiota to change its composition (for example, the gain and loss of taxa as well as shifts in relative abundance) or gene expression in response to physiological changes in the host or external environmental changes has been termed ‘metagenomic plasticity'12.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The capacity of a host's gut microbiota to change its composition (for example, the gain and loss of taxa as well as shifts in relative abundance) or gene expression in response to physiological changes in the host or external environmental changes has been termed ‘metagenomic plasticity'12. In the context of the hologenome concept, a vertebrates' acclimation to novel environments could be driven not only by interaction of the host genome with the environment, but by the interaction of their hologenome (that is, the cumulative genomes of the host and its microbial symbionts) with the environment126465. Therefore, metagenomic plasticity of host microbial symbionts may boost the ability of hosts to acclimate and adapt12.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A host's gut microbiota mediates many processes such as digestion and energy acquisition56, vitamin synthesis7, immunomodulation8 and pathogen defence91011, and may even be an important factor in processes of ecological adaptation12.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Amphibian gut microbiota shifts differentially in community structure but converges on habitat-specific predicted functions

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Complex microbial communities inhabit vertebrate digestive systems but thorough understanding of the ecological dynamics and functions of host-associated microbiota within natural habitats is limited. We investigate the role of environmental conditions in shaping gut and skin microbiota under natural conditions by performing a field survey and reciprocal transfer experiments with salamander larvae inhabiting two distinct habitats (ponds and streams). We show that gut and skin microbiota are habitat-specific, demonstrating environmental factors mediate community structure. Reciprocal transfer reveals that gut microbiota, but not skin microbiota, responds differentially to environmental change. Stream-to-pond larvae shift their gut microbiota to that of pond-to-pond larvae, whereas pond-to-stream larvae change to a community structure distinct from both habitat controls. Predicted functions, however, match that of larvae from the destination habitats in both cases. Thus, microbial function can be matched without taxonomic coherence and gut microbiota appears to exhibit metagenomic plasticity.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Amphibian gut microbiota shifts differentially in community structure but converges on habitat-specific predicted functions

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ecophysiologists who consider the potential impacts of the microbiota on physiological responses to changing environments should be participants in multidisciplinary teams that are working to understand the impacts of climate warming and other rapid anthropomorphic changes on animal populations and ecosystems. This is particularly important because ecological adaptations conferred by microbial systems typically happen at a much more rapid pace than evolutionary processes can in many animal hosts (Alberdi et al, 2016). The ability to fully integrate microbiomes into the ecology of free-living animal species will aid conservation biology efforts, particularly for animals that experience environmental changes that affect food resources (Bahrndorff et al, 2016;Barelli et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A place for host–microbe symbiosis in the comparative physiologist's toolbox

Kohl

Carey

2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although scientists have long appreciated that metazoans evolved in a microbial world, we are just beginning to appreciate the profound impact that host-associated microbes have on diverse aspects of animal biology. The enormous growth in our understanding of hostmicrobe symbioses is rapidly expanding the study of animal physiology, both technically and conceptually. Microbes associate functionally with various body surfaces of their hosts, although most reside in the gastrointestinal tract. Gut microbes convert dietary and host-derived substrates to metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids, thereby providing energy and nutrients to the host. Bacterial metabolites incorporated into the host metabolome can activate receptors on a variety of cell types and, in doing so, alter host physiology (including metabolism, organ function, biological rhythms, neural activity and behavior). Given that host-microbe interactions affect diverse aspects of host physiology, it is likely that they influence animal ecology and, if they confer fitness benefits, the evolutionary trajectory of a species. Multiple variables -including sampling regime, environmental parameters, host metadata and analytical methods -can influence experimental outcomes in host-microbiome studies, making careful experimental design and execution crucial to ensure reproducible and informative studies in the laboratory and field. Integration of microbiomes into comparative physiology and ecophysiological investigations can reveal the potential impacts of the microbiota on physiological responses to changing environments, and is likely to bring valuable insights to the study of host-microbiome interactions among a broad range of metazoans, including humans.

show abstract

Seasonal dynamics in the mammalian microbiome between disparate environments

Stothart,

Spina,

Hotchkiss

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Host‐associated bacterial microbiomes can facilitate host acclimation to seasonal environmental change and are hypothesized to help hosts cope with recent anthropogenic environmental perturbations (e.g., landscape modification). However, it is unclear how recurrent and recent forms of environmental change interact to shape variation in the microbiome. The majority of wildlife microbiome research occurs within a single seasonal context. Meanwhile, the few studies of seasonal variation in the microbiome often restrict focus to a single environmental context. By sampling urban and exurban eastern grey squirrel populations in the spring, summer, autumn, and winter, we explored whether seasonal rhythms in the grey squirrel gut microbiome differed across environments using a 16S amplicon sequencing approach. Differences in the microbiome between urban and exurban squirrels persisted across most of the year, which we hypothesize is linked to anthropogenic food consumption, but we also observed similarities in the urban and exurban grey squirrel microbiome during the autumn, which we attribute to engrained seed caching instincts in preparation for the winter. Host behaviour and diet selection may therefore be capable of maintaining similarities in microbiome structure between disparate environments. However, the depletion of an obligate host mucin glycan specialist (Akkermansia) during the winter in both urban and exurban squirrels was among the strongest differential abundance patterns we observed. In summary, urban grey squirrels showed different seasonal patterns in their microbiome than squirrels from exurban forests; however, in some instances, host behaviour and physiological responses might be capable of maintaining similar microbiome responses across seasons.

show abstract

Do Vertebrate Gut Metagenomes Confer Rapid Ecological Adaptation?

Cited by 287 publications

References 58 publications

Amphibian gut microbiota shifts differentially in community structure but converges on habitat-specific predicted functions

Amphibian gut microbiota shifts differentially in community structure but converges on habitat-specific predicted functions

A place for host–microbe symbiosis in the comparative physiologist's toolbox

Seasonal dynamics in the mammalian microbiome between disparate environments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About