Abstract
The extent to which diet and environment influence gut community membership (presence or absence of taxa) and structure (individual taxon abundance) is the subject of growing interest in microbiome research. Here, we examined the gut bacterial communities of three cricket groups: (1) wild caught field crickets, (2) laboratory‐reared crickets fed cat chow, and (3) laboratory‐reared crickets fed chemically defined diets. We found that both environment and diet greatly altered the structure of the gut bacterial community. Wild crickets had greater gut microbial diversity and higher Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratios, in contrast to laboratory‐reared crickets. Predictive metagenomes revealed that laboratory‐reared crickets were significantly enriched in amino acid degradation pathways, while wild crickets had a higher relative abundance of peptidases that would aid in amino acid release. Although wild and laboratory animals differ greatly in their bacterial communities, we show that the community proportional membership remains stable from Phylum to Family taxonomic levels regardless of differences in environment and diet, suggesting that endogenous factors, such as host genetics, have greater control in shaping gut community membership.
Highlights
Metazoans live symbiotically with microorganisms on and within them (Hacquard et al, 2015), and the gastrointestinal tract is one of the most studied organs for these symbiotic interactions (Douglas, 2015; Engel & Moran, 2013; Leslie & Young, 2015)
Zhao et al (2016) demonstrated that host genetics are fundamentally responsible for gut community membership, leaving nongenetic factors to regulate the abundance of different microbes
The metazoan gut is colonized by an opportunistic and commensal microbiota that is shaped by a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors (Bennett et al, 2016; Bolnick, Snowberg, Hirsch, Lauber, Knight, et al, 2014; Bolnick, Snowberg, Hirsch, Lauber, Org, et al, 2014; Daniel et al, 2014; David et al, 2014; Dehler, Secombes, & Martin, 2017; Muegge et al, 2011; Pérez-Cobas et al, 2015; Yun et al, 2014)
Summary
Metazoans live symbiotically with microorganisms on and within them (Hacquard et al, 2015), and the gastrointestinal tract is one of the most studied organs for these symbiotic interactions (Douglas, 2015; Engel & Moran, 2013; Leslie & Young, 2015). Host genetics are believed to influence the gut microbial community, as gut microbiota has been shown to be more similar among family members and even within populations (Turnbaugh et al, 2009; Zhao et al, 2016). Zhao et al (2016) demonstrated that host genetics are fundamentally responsible for gut community membership, leaving nongenetic factors to regulate the abundance of different microbes. Host diet is a major exogenous factor in shifting the structure of the gut bacterial community and its metabolic capabilities (Bolnick, Snowberg, Hirsch, Lauber, Knight, et al, 2014; Chandler, Lang, Bhatnagar, Eisen, & Kopp, 2011; Muegge et al, 2011).
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