Host specificity of the gut microbiome

Mallott, Elizabeth K.; Amato, Katherine R.

doi:10.1038/s41579-021-00562-3

Cited by 137 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 178 publications

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“…In oviparous animals (such as birds), mechanisms associated with the establishment and assembly of early-life gut microbiota may be different from those observed in mammals [14]. Specifically, embryos develop in closed eggs and experience minimal contact with microbes from ovipositors, maternal feathers, and other components of the nest environment [15][16][17]. After hatching, parental care behaviors that include egg incubation, saliva exchange between parents and nestlings during feeding, and prolonged periods of physical contact between the parents and offspring, facilitate the transmission of gut microbiota and subsequent colonization in chicks [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hen raising helps chicks establish gut microbiota in their early life and improve microbiota stability after H9N2 challenge

Xiao

et al. 2022

Microbiome

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Background Early gut microbial colonization is important for postnatal growth and immune development of the chicken. However, at present, commercial chickens are hatched and raised without adult hens, thus are cut off from the microbiota transfer between hens and chicks. In this study, we compared the gut microbiota composition between hen-reared and separately reared chicks, and its impact on the resistance to H9N2 avian influenza virus, with the motive of investigating the impact of this cutoff in microbiota transfer. Results We used the 16SrRNA sequencing method to assess the composition of the gut microbiota in chicks represented by three hen-reared groups and one separately reared group. We found that the diversity of gut microbes in the chicks from the three hen-reared groups was more abundant than in the separately reared group, both at the phylum and genus levels. Our findings highlight the importance of early parental care in influencing the establishment of gut microbiota in the early life of chicks. SourceTracker analysis showed that the feather and cloaca microbiota of hens are the main sources of gut microbiota of chicks. After H9N2 exposure, the viral infection lasted longer in the separately reared chicks, with the viral titers in their oropharyngeal swabs being higher compared to the hen-reared chicks at day 5 post-infection. Interestingly, our results revealed that the gut microbiota of the hen-reared chicks was more stable after H9N2 infection in comparison to that of the separately reared chicks. Conclusions Microbiota transfer between the hens and their chicks promotes the establishment of a balanced and diverse microbiota in the early life of the chicks and improves microbiota stability after H9N2 challenge. These findings advance our understanding of the protective role of gut microbiota in the early life of chicks and should be instrumental in improving chick rearing in the commercial poultry industry.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hen raising helps chicks establish gut microbiota in their early life and improve microbiota stability after H9N2 challenge

Xiao

et al. 2022

Microbiome

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“…The gut microbiota of host animals provides various important roles regarding digestion, provision or nutrients or immune stimulating function within insects as well as vertebrate clades ( Moran et al, 2019 ; Schmidt and Engel, 2021 ). There is a huge interest in advancing our understanding on how host-associations are formed and how much inter-host transmission, environmental acquisition or host genetic factors play a role ( Robinson et al, 2019 ; Mallott and Amato, 2021 ). While major focus is clearly on functional aspects for the host, reliable transmission routes and acquisition fidelity would sustain microbial associations even in the absence of mutualistic interactions ( Leftwich et al, 2020 ; Sieber et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bowel Movement: Integrating Host Mobility and Microbial Transmission Across Host Taxa

Weinhold

2022

Front. Microbiol.

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The gut microbiota of animals displays a high degree of plasticity with respect to environmental or dietary adaptations and is shaped by factors like social interactions, diet diversity or the local environment. But the contribution of these drivers varies across host taxa and our ability to explain microbiome variability within wild populations remains limited. Terrestrial animals have divergent mobility ranges and can either crawl, walk or fly, from a couple of centimeters toward thousands of kilometers. Animal movement has been little regarded in host microbiota frameworks, though it can directly influence major drivers of the host microbiota: (1) Aggregation movement can enhance social transmissions, (2) foraging movement can extend range of diet diversity, and (3) dispersal movement determines the local environment of a host. Here, I would like to outline how movement behaviors of different host taxa matter for microbial acquisition across mammals, birds as well as insects. Host movement can have contrasting effects and either reduce or enlarge spatial scale. Increased dispersal movement could dissolve local effects of sampling location, while aggregation could enhance inter-host transmissions and uniformity among social groups. Host movement can also extend the boundaries of microbial dispersal limitations and connect habitat patches across plant-pollinator networks, while the microbiota of wild populations could converge toward a uniform pattern when mobility is interrupted in captivity or laboratory settings. Hence, the implementation of host movement would be a valuable addition to the metacommunity concept, to comprehend microbial dispersal within and across trophic levels.

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“…A recent analysis of samples from wild baboons found widespread gut microbiome heritability ( 9 ). This vertical transmission may be one of the drivers of phylosymbiosis ( 10 ). Phylosymbiosis is defined as ‘microbial community relationships that recapitulate the phylogeny of their host’ ( 11 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patterns of phylosymbiosis have been reported in many studies ( 12–14 ). Additionally, the host diet may also affect the gut microbiota, with several studies reporting that host diet can lead to the convergence of gut microbes in the host species ( 10 , 15–18 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

AMDB: a database of animal gut microbial communities with manually curated metadata

Yang

Park

Jung

et al. 2021

Nucleic Acids Research

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Variations in gut microbiota can be explained by animal host characteristics, including host phylogeny and diet. However, there are currently no databases that allow for easy exploration of the relationship between gut microbiota and diverse animal hosts. The Animal Microbiome Database (AMDB) is the first database to provide taxonomic profiles of the gut microbiota in various animal species. AMDB contains 2530 amplicon data from 34 projects with manually curated metadata. The total data represent 467 animal species and contain 10 478 bacterial taxa. This novel database provides information regarding gut microbiota structures and the distribution of gut bacteria in animals, with an easy-to-use interface. Interactive visualizations are also available, enabling effective investigation of the relationship between the gut microbiota and animal hosts. AMDB will contribute to a better understanding of the gut microbiota of animals. AMDB is publicly available without login requirements at http://leb.snu.ac.kr/amdb.

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Host specificity of the gut microbiome

Cited by 137 publications

References 178 publications

Hen raising helps chicks establish gut microbiota in their early life and improve microbiota stability after H9N2 challenge

Hen raising helps chicks establish gut microbiota in their early life and improve microbiota stability after H9N2 challenge

Bowel Movement: Integrating Host Mobility and Microbial Transmission Across Host Taxa

AMDB: a database of animal gut microbial communities with manually curated metadata

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