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Abstract
The role of microbes as a part of animal systems has historically been an under-appreciated aspect of animal life histories. Recently, evidence has emerged that microbes have wide-ranging influences on animal behavior. Elucidating the complex relationships between host–microbe interactions and behavior requires an expanded ecological perspective, involving the host, the microbiome and the environment; which, in combination, is termed the holobiont. We begin by seeking insights from the literature on host–parasite interactions, then expand to consider networks of interactions between members of the microbial community. A central aspect of the environment is host nutrition. We describe how interactions between the nutrient environment, the metabolic and behavioral responses of the host and the microbiome can be studied using an integrative framework called nutritional geometry, which integrates and maps multiple aspects of the host and microbial response in multidimensional nutrient intake spaces.
Highlights
Behaviors mediate the relationship between an animal and its changing environment, both abiotic and biotic
The evolutionary processes differ between the host and symbiotic partners, and understanding phenotypic changes of animal systems requires a perspective that encompasses microbial ecology
Using nutrition as an example, we introduce an integrative framework—nutritional geometry- and discuss its research and practical applications
Summary
Behaviors mediate the relationship between an animal and its changing environment, both abiotic and biotic. A key component of the biotic environment is the vast number of microbial species that live within and upon animals, many of which reside within the gut (the gut microbiome). An oft-neglected feature is the tension and disparity in biological scales between the host and its symbionts: the animal cells dominate the biomass, are typically isogenic (but phenotypically differentiated) and many have slow turnover; whilst the microbial cells are of lower biomass, up to orders of magnitude greater in numbers, genetically-diverse and have faster turnover (Whitman et al, 1998; Ley et al, 2006; Grice et al, 2008). The evolutionary processes differ between the host and symbiotic partners, and understanding phenotypic changes of animal systems requires a perspective that encompasses microbial ecology. Mounting evidence points to behavior, both individual and social (Heijtza et al, 2011; Cryan and Dinan, 2012; Ezenwa et al, 2012; Dance, 2014), as reflecting inputs from the microbiome
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