Insular holobionts: persistence and seasonal plasticity of the Balearic wall lizard ( Podarcis lilfordi) gut microbiota

PeerJ

article

Laura Baldo¹  Giacomo Tavecchia³  Andreu Rotger³  José Manuel Igual³  Joan Lluís Riera¹ 

[1] Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona;Institute for Research on Biodiversity;Animal Demography and Ecology Unit

关键词: Population diversity;    16S rRNA Illumina;    Sex;    Season;    Diet;    Stable isotopes;    Island;    Local adaptation;    Phylogeography;    Ecology;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.14511

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIntegrative studies of animals and associated microbial assemblages (i.e., the holobiont) are rapidly changing our perspectives on organismal ecology and evolution. Insular vertebrates provide ideal natural systems to understand patterns of host-gut microbiota coevolution, the resilience and plasticity these microbial communities over temporal and spatial scales, and ultimately their role in the host ecological adaptation.MethodsHere we used the endemic Balearic wall lizard Podarcis lilfordi to dissect the drivers of the microbial diversity within and across host allopatric populations/islets. By focusing on three extensively studied populations/islets of Mallorca (Spain) and fecal sampling from individually identified lizards along two years (both in spring and autumn), we sorted out the effect of islet, sex, life stage, year and season on the microbiota composition. We further related microbiota diversity to host genetics, trophic ecology and expected annual metabolic changes.ResultsAll the three populations showed a remarkable conservation of the major microbial taxonomic profile, while carrying their unique microbial signature at finer level of taxonomic resolution (Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs)). Microbiota distances across populations were compatible with both host genetics (based on microsatellites) and trophic niche distances (based on stable isotopes and fecal content). Within populations, a large proportion of ASVs (30–50%) were recurrently found along the four sampling dates. The microbial diversity was strongly marked by seasonality, with no sex effect and a marginal life stage and annual effect. The microbiota showed seasonal fluctuations along the two sampled years, primarily due to changes in the relative abundances of fermentative bacteria (mostly families Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae), without any major compositional turnover.ConclusionsThese results support a large resilience of the major compositional aspects of the P. lilfordi gut microbiota over the short-term evolutionary divergence of their host allopatric populations (<10,000 years), but also indicate an undergoing process of parallel diversification of the both host and associated gut microbes. Predictable seasonal dynamics in microbiota diversity suggests a role of microbiota plasticity in the lizards’ metabolic adaptation to their resource-constrained insular environments. Overall, our study supports the need for longitudinal and integrative studies of host and associated microbes in natural systems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY