Host diet mediates a negative relationship between abundance and diversity ofDrosophilagut microbiota

Abstract

Nutrient supply to ecosystems has major effects on ecological diversity, but it is unclear to what degree the shape of this relationship is general versus dependent on the specific environment or community. Although the diet composition in terms of the source or proportions of different nutrient types is known to affect gut microbiota composition, the relationship between the quantity of nutrients supplied and the abundance and diversity of the intestinal microbial community remains to be elucidated. Here, we address this relationship using replicate populations of Drosophila melanogaster maintained over multiple generations on three diets differing in the concentration of yeast (the only source of most nutrients). While a 6.5‐fold increase in yeast concentration led to a 100‐fold increase in the total abundance of gut microbes, it caused a major decrease in their alpha diversity (by 45–60% depending on the diversity measure). This was accompanied by only minor shifts in the taxonomic affiliation of the most common operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Thus, nutrient concentration in host diet mediates a strong negative relationship between the nutrient abundance and microbial diversity in the Drosophila gut ecosystem.

Gut microbiota structure differs between honeybees in winter and summer

“…Both factors are likely to contribute to the increased bacterial loads in bees fed on pollen as compared with those fed on sugar water only. Recent reports in mice and fly models have shown that an increase in nutritional richness, especially protein quantity, is associated with an increase in overall abundance of the microbiota but a decrease in α-diversity [55,56]. This is supported by our findings, because we observed an increase in bacterial loads and a decrease in the effective number of species in nurses and winter bees that feed on pollen (Fig.…”

Comparison of gut bacterial communities and their associations with host diets in four fruit borers

“…Diet is a dominant factor shaping the gut microbial communities, often related to environmental surroundings. A change of diet can alter gut microbiota vastly and instantly in insects . The plasticity of gut microbiota can be useful for insects to exploit different food sources, providing the basis for the development of host differentiation, which may be an ecological explanation for high species diversity in insects …”

“…A change of diet can alter gut microbiota vastly and instantly in insects. 20,24,25 The plasticity of gut microbiota can be useful for insects to exploit different food sources, providing the basis for the development of host differentiation, which may be an ecological explanation for high species diversity in insects. 26,27 Recently, a growing number of studies have cataloged and characterized microbial communities, particularly in bees, 28 fruit flies, 15,21 termites, 19 and beetles.…”

Common structuring principles of the Drosophila melanogaster microbiome on a continental scale and between host and substrate

“…Instead, probabilistic processes contribute to gut colonization (Obadia et al ., ) and community structure in natural populations can be explained to a large extent by neutral ecological mechanisms (Adair et al ., ). As in mammals and other organisms, environmental factors, such as the time of collection (Adair et al ., ; Behrman et al ., ) or diet (Chandler et al ., ; Staubach et al ., ; Erkosar et al ., ; Wang and Staubach, ) have a strong effect on the Drosophila microbiome.…”