Abstract
BackgroundAs the importance of beneficial bacteria is better recognized, understanding the dynamics of symbioses becomes increasingly crucial. In many gut symbioses, it is essential to understand whether changes in host diet play a role in the persistence of the bacterial gut community. In this study, termites were fed six dietary sources and the microbial community was monitored over a 49-day period using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. A deep backpropagation artificial neural network (ANN) was used to learn how the six different lignocellulose food sources affected the temporal composition of the hindgut microbiota of the termite as well as taxon-taxon and taxon-substrate interactions.ResultsShifts in the termite gut microbiota after diet change in each colony were observed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and beta diversity analyses. The artificial neural network accurately predicted the relative abundances of taxa at random points in the temporal study and showed that low-abundant taxa maintain community driving correlations in the hindgut.ConclusionsThis combinatorial approach utilizing 16S rRNA gene sequencing and deep learning revealed that low-abundant bacteria that often do not belong to the core community are drivers of the termite hindgut bacterial community composition.
Highlights
As the importance of beneficial bacteria is better recognized, understanding the dynamics of symbioses becomes increasingly crucial
Effect of dietary changes on the termite hindgut microbiota The hindgut microbiota of termites supplies the host with energy and nutrients by fermenting the ingested lignocellulose
The microbiota of termites maintained on all other diets gradually moved away from the day 0 samples over time, which is indicative of a temporal effect of the food source on the hindgut microbiota
Summary
As the importance of beneficial bacteria is better recognized, understanding the dynamics of symbioses becomes increasingly crucial. It is essential to understand whether changes in host diet play a role in the persistence of the bacterial gut community. Termites were fed six dietary sources and the microbial community was monitored over a 49-day period using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Symbioses are widespread in nature, and beneficial digestive-tract symbioses have been shown to be critical for host health [1]. Mammals that feed on a cellulose-rich diet, such as ruminant cows, require a gut bacterial community to Insect-feeding habits have been shown to partially dictate the microorganisms present in the gut. Cockroaches fed a low-protein and high-fiber diet showed decreases of Streptococci and Lactobacilli in their gut, coinciding with the reduction of acetate and lactate production [8].
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