Gene and genome-centric analyses of koala and wombat fecal microbiomes point to metabolic specialization for Eucalyptus digestion

PeerJ

article

Miriam E. Shiffman¹  Rochelle M. Soo¹  Paul G. Dennis²  Mark Morrison³  Gene W. Tyson¹  Philip Hugenholtz¹ 

[1] Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland;School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland;The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, The University of Queensland

关键词: Koala;    Wombat;    Microbiome;    Marsupials;    PSM;    Metagenomics;    Herbivory;    Eucalyptus;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.4075

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

The koala has evolved to become a specialist Eucalyptus herbivore since diverging from its closest relative, the wombat, a generalist herbivore. This niche adaptation involves, in part, changes in the gut microbiota. The goal of this study was to compare koala and wombat fecal microbiomes using metagenomics to identify potential differences attributable to dietary specialization. Several populations discriminated between the koala and wombat fecal communities, most notably S24-7 and Synergistaceae in the koala, and Christensenellaceae and RF39 in the wombat. As expected for herbivores, both communities contained the genes necessary for lignocellulose degradation and urea recycling partitioned and redundantly encoded across multiple populations. Secondary metabolism was overrepresented in the koala fecal samples, consistent with the need to process Eucalyptus secondary metabolites. The Synergistaceae population encodes multiple pathways potentially relevant to Eucalyptus compound metabolism, and is predicted to be a key player in detoxification of the koala’s diet. Notably, characterized microbial isolates from the koala gut appear to be minor constituents of this habitat, and the metagenomes provide the opportunity for genome-directed isolation of more representative populations. Metagenomic analysis of other obligate and facultative Eucalyptus folivores will reveal whether putatively detoxifying bacteria identified in the koala are shared across these marsupials.

【 授权许可】

CC BY