Gut microflora may facilitate adaptation to anthropic habitat: A comparative study in <i>Rattus</i>

Varudkar, Amruta; Ramakrishnan, Uma

doi:10.1002/ece3.4040

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(79 reference statements)

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“…R. norvegicus and M. musculus , family Muridae). Varudkar & Ramakrishnan (2018) previously reported a similar pattern while comparing the GM of two phylogenetically related rats in rural and urban habitats. Habitat emerged as the main predictor of GM diversity and composition.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Effects of forest urbanization on the interplay between small mammal communities and their gut microbiota

Bouilloud,

Galan,

Pradel

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Urbanization significantly impacts wild populations, favoring urban dweller species over those that are unable to adapt to rapid and abrupt changes. One possible explanation for differential adaptative abilities between these species is that the microbiome may modulate the host phenotype rapidly through a high degree of flexibility. Conversely, under such anthropic perturbations, the microbiota composition of some species could be disrupted, resulting in dysbiosis and negative impacts on host fitness, potentially causing local extirpation. The links between the impact of urbanization on host communities and their gut microbiota have only been scarcely explored. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the gut microbiota (GM) could play a role in host adaptation to urban environments. We addressed this question by studying several species of small terrestrial mammals sampled in forested areas along a forested gradient of urbanization (from rural forests to urban parks) during 2020 fall. The gut was collected and bacteria were described using a 16S metabarcoding approach. We tested whether urbanization led to changes in small mammal communities and in their GM. We analyzed these changes in terms of the presence and abundance of taxa and their putative functions to decipher the processes underlying these changes. We found that urbanization had marked impacts on small mammal communities and their GM, either directly or indirectly depending on small mammal species categories. The urban dweller species had a lower taxonomic diversity but a higher functional diversity and a different composition compared to urban adapter species. Their GM assembly was mostly governed by stochastic effects, which could indicate dysbiosis in these urban species. Selection processes and an overabundance of functions were detected that could be associated with adaptation to urban environments despite potential dysbiosis. Urbanization could also impact the diversity and taxonomic composition of GM in urban adapter species. However, their functional diversity and composition remained relatively stable. This observation can be explained by functional redundancy, where certain taxa express the same function. This could explain the adaptation of urban adapter species in various environments, including urban settings. We can therefore assume that there are feedback loops between the gut microbiota and the host species within communities, enabling rapid and flexible adaptation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Effects of forest urbanization on the interplay between small mammal communities and their gut microbiota

Bouilloud,

Galan,

Pradel

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Despite intensive research in this field, several aspects of phenotypic change due to a commensal lifestyle remain unexplored. In particular, little is known about the effect of a commensal lifestyle on the composition and function of microbial communities harboured within commensal bodies [11] and putative phenotype changes that may be induced by variation in microbial populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Murine rodents represent a suitable model group for exploring the effect of commensalism on associated microbiota as the switch between a commensal vs. noncommensal lifestyle has taken place repeatedly during the course of their evolution [1,28]. To date, however, most research on murine gut microbiota has focused on captive murine species [12,15,21,[29][30][31][32], commensal populations of murine rodents [33][34][35] or noncommensal murine species that are phylogenetically distant to commensal taxa [11,36]. Consequently, there is little comparative data available aimed directly at the assessment of commensalism on microbial structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How being synanthropic affects the gut bacteriome and mycobiome: comparison of two mouse species with contrasting ecologies

et al. 2020

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Background: The vertebrate gastrointestinal tract is colonised by microbiota that have a major effect on the host's health, physiology and phenotype. Once introduced into captivity, however, the gut microbial composition of freeliving individuals can change dramatically. At present, little is known about gut microbial changes associated with adaptation to a synanthropic lifestyle in commensal species, compared with their non-commensal counterparts. Here, we compare the taxonomic composition and diversity of bacterial and fungal communities across three gut sections in synanthropic house mouse (Mus musculus) and a closely related non-synanthropic mound-building mouse (Mus spicilegus). Results: Using Illumina sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA amplicons, we found higher bacterial diversity in M. spicilegus and detected 11 bacterial operational taxonomic units with significantly different proportions. Notably, abundance of Oscillospira, which is typically higher in lean or outdoor pasturing animals, was more abundant in non-commensal M. spicilegus. ITS2-based barcoding revealed low diversity and high uniformity of gut fungi in both species, with the genus Kazachstania clearly dominant. Conclusions: Though differences in gut bacteria observed in the two species can be associated with their close association with humans, changes due to a move from commensalism to captivity would appear to have caused larger shifts in microbiota.

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Exploring the potential effects of forest urbanization on the interplay between small mammal communities and their gut microbiota

Bouilloud,

Galan,

Pradel

et al. 2024

anim microbiome

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Urbanization significantly impacts wild populations, favoring urban dweller species over those that are unable to adapt to rapid changes. These differential adaptative abilities could be mediated by the microbiome, which may modulate the host phenotype rapidly through a high degree of flexibility. Conversely, under anthropic perturbations, the microbiota of some species could be disrupted, resulting in dysbiosis and negative impacts on host fitness. The links between the impact of urbanization on host communities and their gut microbiota (GM) have only been scarcely explored. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the bacterial composition of the GM could play a role in host adaptation to urban environments. We described the GM of several species of small terrestrial mammals sampled in forested areas along a gradient of urbanization, using a 16S metabarcoding approach. We tested whether urbanization led to changes in small mammal communities and in their GM, considering the presence and abundance of bacterial taxa and their putative functions. This enabled to decipher the processes underlying these changes. We found potential impacts of urbanization on small mammal communities and their GM. The urban dweller species had a lower bacterial taxonomic diversity but a higher functional diversity and a different composition compared to urban adapter species. Their GM assembly was mostly governed by stochastic effects, potentially indicating dysbiosis. Selection processes and an overabundance of functions were detected that could be associated with adaptation to urban environments despite dysbiosis. In urban adapter species, the GM functional diversity and composition remained relatively stable along the urbanization gradient. This observation can be explained by functional redundancy, where certain taxa express the same function. This could favor the adaptation of urban adapter species in various environments, including urban settings. We can therefore assume that there are feedbacks between the gut microbiota and host species within communities, enabling rapid adaptation.

show abstract

Gut microflora may facilitate adaptation to anthropic habitat: A comparative study in Rattus

Cited by 5 publications

References 61 publications

Effects of forest urbanization on the interplay between small mammal communities and their gut microbiota

Effects of forest urbanization on the interplay between small mammal communities and their gut microbiota

How being synanthropic affects the gut bacteriome and mycobiome: comparison of two mouse species with contrasting ecologies

Exploring the potential effects of forest urbanization on the interplay between small mammal communities and their gut microbiota

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