Species-specific but not phylosymbiotic gut microbiomes of New Guinean passerine birds are shaped by diet and flight-associated gut modifications
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Species-specific but not phylosymbiotic gut microbiomes of New Guinean passerine birds are shaped by diet and flight-associated gut modifications. / Bodawatta, Kasun H.; Koane, Bonny; Maiah, Gibson; Sam, Katerina; Poulsen, Michael; Jønsson, Knud A.
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 288, No. 1949, 20210446, 2021.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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T1 - Species-specific but not phylosymbiotic gut microbiomes of New Guinean passerine birds are shaped by diet and flight-associated gut modifications
AU - Bodawatta, Kasun H.
AU - Koane, Bonny
AU - Maiah, Gibson
AU - Sam, Katerina
AU - Poulsen, Michael
AU - Jønsson, Knud A.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Animal hosts have evolved intricate associations with microbial symbionts, where both depend on each other for particular functions. In many cases, these associations lead to phylosymbiosis, where phylogenetically related species harbour compositionally more similar microbiomes than distantly related species. However, evidence for phylosymbiosis is either weak or lacking in gut microbiomes of flying vertebrates, particularly in birds. To shed more light on this phenomenon, we compared cloacal microbiomes of 37 tropical passerine bird species from New Guinea using 16S rRNA bacterial gene sequencing. We show a lack of phylosymbiosis and document highly variable microbiomes. Furthermore, we find that gut bacterial community compositions are species-specific and tend to be shaped by host diet but not sampling locality, potentially driven by the similarities in habitats used by individual species. We further show that flight-associated gut modifications, coupled with individual dietary differences, shape gut microbiome structure and variation, contributing to the lack of phylosymbiosis. These patterns indicate that the stability of symbiosis may depend on microbial functional diversity rather than taxonomic composition. Furthermore, the more variable and fluid host-microbe associations suggest probable disparities in the potential for coevolution between bird host species and microbial symbionts.
AB - Animal hosts have evolved intricate associations with microbial symbionts, where both depend on each other for particular functions. In many cases, these associations lead to phylosymbiosis, where phylogenetically related species harbour compositionally more similar microbiomes than distantly related species. However, evidence for phylosymbiosis is either weak or lacking in gut microbiomes of flying vertebrates, particularly in birds. To shed more light on this phenomenon, we compared cloacal microbiomes of 37 tropical passerine bird species from New Guinea using 16S rRNA bacterial gene sequencing. We show a lack of phylosymbiosis and document highly variable microbiomes. Furthermore, we find that gut bacterial community compositions are species-specific and tend to be shaped by host diet but not sampling locality, potentially driven by the similarities in habitats used by individual species. We further show that flight-associated gut modifications, coupled with individual dietary differences, shape gut microbiome structure and variation, contributing to the lack of phylosymbiosis. These patterns indicate that the stability of symbiosis may depend on microbial functional diversity rather than taxonomic composition. Furthermore, the more variable and fluid host-microbe associations suggest probable disparities in the potential for coevolution between bird host species and microbial symbionts.
KW - diet
KW - gut retention time
KW - microbial heterogeneity
KW - passeriformes
KW - phylosymbiosis
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2021.0446
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2021.0446
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 33878920
AN - SCOPUS:85105905860
VL - 288
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0962-8452
IS - 1949
M1 - 20210446
ER -
ID: 269509129