Abstract
The influence of the microbiome on its host is well-documented, but the interplay of its members is not yet well-understood. Even for simple microbiomes, the interaction among members of the microbiome is difficult to study. Longitudinal studies provide a promising approach to studying such interactions through the temporal covariation of different taxonomic units. By contrast to most longitudinal studies, which span only a single host generation, we here present a post hoc analysis of a whole-genome dataset of 81 samples that follows microbiome composition for up to 180 host generations, which cover nearly 10 years. The microbiome diversity remained rather stable in replicated Drosophila melanogaster populations exposed to two different temperature regimes. The composition changed, however, systematically across replicates of the two temperature regimes. Significant associations between families, mostly specific to one temperature regime, indicate functional interdependence of different microbiome components. These associations also involve moderately abundant families, which emphasizes their functional importance, and highlights the importance of looking beyond the common constituents of the Drosophila microbiome.
Highlights
The interaction of the microbiome with its host is highly topical and has been investigated in many species [1,2,3,4]
We studied the long-term microbiome dynamics of D. melanogaster hosts exposed to novel hot (18/28°C) and cold environments (10/20°C)
We first considered the changes in composition over time; focusing on the dynamics of the seven most abundant families of microbiota, we identified significant associations between several of them
Summary
The interaction of the microbiome with its host is highly topical and has been investigated in many species [1,2,3,4]. The causal relations between microbiome composition and its effect on the host remain poorly understood [14,15]. The composition of the microbiome is highly dynamic and affected by the host genotype as well as by environmental factors [16,17,18,19,20,21]. Compositional changes of the microbiome, which are triggered by environmental challenges, provide the potential to indirectly modulate the response of the host to an altered environment [22]. Despite a well-documented turnover of microbiome composition and complexity, our understanding of how microbial communities establish and persist in interaction with their host, and the functional interaction among the members of the microbiome community, is still in its infancy [23,24]
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