Abstract

BackgroundThe eco-evolutionary processes ruling post-disturbance microbial assembly remain poorly studied, particularly in host-microbiome systems. The community recovery depends not only on the type, duration, intensity, and gradient of disturbance, but also on the initial community structure, phylogenetic composition, legacy, and habitat (soil, water, host). In this study, yellow perch (Perca flavescens) juveniles were exposed over 90 days to constant and gradual sublethal doses of cadmium chloride. Afterward, the exposure of aquaria tank system to cadmium was ceased for 60 days. The skin, gut and water tank microbiomes in control and treatment groups, were characterized before, during and after the cadmium exposure using 16s rDNA libraries and high throughput sequencing technology (Illumina, Miseq).ResultsOur data exhibited long-term bioaccumulation of cadmium salts in the liver even after two months since ceasing the exposure. The gradient of cadmium disturbance had differential effects on the perch microbiota recovery, including increases in evenness, taxonomic composition shifts, as well as functional and phylogenetic divergence. The perch microbiome reached an alternative stable state in the skin and nearly complete recovery trajectories in the gut communities. The recovery of skin communities showed a significant proliferation of opportunistic fish pathogens (i.e., Flavobacterium). Our findings provide evidence that neutral processes were a much more significant contributor to microbial community turnover in control treatments than in those treated with cadmium, suggesting the role of selective processes in driving community recovery.ConclusionsThe short-term metallic disturbance of fish development has important long-term implications for host health. The recovery of microbial communities after metallic exposure depends on the magnitude of exposure (constant, gradual), and the nature of the ecological niche (water, skin, and gut). The skin and gut microbiota of fish exposed to constant concentrations of cadmium (CC) were closer to the control negative than those exposed to the gradual concentrations (CV). Overall, our results show that the microbial assembly during the community recovery were both orchestrated by neutral and deterministic processes.8KR8qv6CEcKmimx9at5UakVideo Abtract.

Highlights

  • The eco-evolutionary processes ruling post-disturbance microbial assembly remain poorly studied, in host-microbiome systems

  • Similar Cd concentrations observed among treatment groups concentrations of cadmium (CC) and Cadmium variable concentration (CV) in the water at times T3 and T5 were observed in fish liver only at time T5 (Table 3)

  • After recovery, skin and gut microbiota of fish exposed to constant concentrations of cadmium (CC) were closer to the control group than those exposed to the gradual concentrations (CV)

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Summary

Introduction

The eco-evolutionary processes ruling post-disturbance microbial assembly remain poorly studied, in host-microbiome systems. Introduced first by Holling (1973), the concept of resilience was redefined to incorporate the idea of recovery following a temporary disruption [2, 3], not the ability to resist this disturbance in the first place [4]. Both ecological concepts, “resistance” and “recovery,” were simultaneously considered as measurable components that together represent resilience [4]. We will employ the term “recovery” to describe the pattern of ecoevolutionary change that occurs when a community returns to an alternative stable state

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