Co-evolution in context: The importance of studying gut microbiomes in wild animals

Abstract

IntroductionAs sequencing technology makes data generation faster, cheaper, and more comprehensive, studies of gut microbial communities are multiplying at an astonishing rate. As a result, our understanding of the host-gut microbe relationship is constantly improving. Studies to date have demonstrated that the gut microbiota contributes to host nutrition, health and behavioral patterns by providing energy and nutrients, improving immune function, and influencing the production of neuroactive molecules [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Changes in the composition of the gut microbial community are known to lead to changes in its function, which can alter host nutrition, health and behavior [6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Environmental factors such as diet or social contact are largely responsible for determining the composition of the gut microbial community [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], but host genotype also affects the abundances of some microbial genera [28,32,33].Because host-gut microbe relationships are influenced to some extent by host genotype, and gut microbial community composition differs according to host phylogeny [34][35][36], discussions of the co-evolution of host and gut microbiota are common in the current literature [7,[34][35][36][37]. Some researchers argue that since microbes are found in animals as simple as earthworms, the co-evolution of animals and bacteria has been Co-evolution in context: The importance of studying gut microbiomes in wild animals Abstract Because the gut microbiota contributes to host nutrition, health and behavior, and gut microbial community composition differs according to host phylogeny, co-evolution is believed to have been an important mechanism in the formation of the host-gut microbe relationship. However, current research is not ideal for examining this theme. Most studies of the gut microbiota are performed in controlled settings, but gut microbial community composition is strongly influenced by environmental factors.To truly explore the co-evolution of host and microbe, it is necessary to have data describing host-microbe dynamics in natural environments with variation in factors such as climate, food availability, disease prevalence, and host behavior. In this review, I use current knowledge of host-gut microbe dynamics to explore the potential interactions between host and microbe in natural habitats. These interactions include the influence of host habitat on gut microbial community composition as well as the impacts of the gut microbiota on host fitness in a given habitat. Based on what we currently know, the potential connections between host habitat, the gut microbiota, and host fitness are great. Studies of wild animals will be an essential next step to test these connections and to advance our understanding of host-gut microbe co-evolution. KeywordsGut microbiota • host-microbe • co-evolution • habitat • ecology • fitness occurring for more than 800 million years [38,39]. Additionally, the increased complexity and stabilit...

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