The Phylosymbiosis Pattern Between the Fig Wasps of the Same Genus and Their Associated Microbiota

Abstract

Microbial communities can be critical for many metazoans, which can lead to the observation of phylosymbiosis with phylogenetically related species sharing similar microbial communities. Most of the previous studies on phylosymbiosis were conducted across the host families or genera. However, it is unclear whether the phylosymbiosis signal is still prevalent at lower taxonomic levels. In this study, 54 individuals from six species of the fig wasp genus Ceratosolen (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) collected from nine natural populations and their associated microbiota were investigated. The fig wasp species were morphologically identified and further determined by mitochondrial CO1 gene fragments and nuclear ITS2 sequences, and the V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was sequenced to analyze the bacterial communities. The results suggest a significant positive correlation between host genetic characteristics and microbial diversity characteristics, indicating the phylosymbiosis signal between the phylogeny of insect hosts and the associated microbiota in the lower classification level within a genus. Moreover, we found that the endosymbiotic Wolbachia carried by fig wasps led to a decrease in bacterial diversity of host-associated microbial communities. This study contributes to our understanding of the role of host phylogeny, as well as the role of endosymbionts in shaping the host-associated microbial community.

Microbiota associated with meiofaunal nemerteans reveals evidence of phylosymbiosis

“…Within the genus Ototyphlonemertes , species identity explained about 40% of the differences in microbiome composition between individuals and there was a significant correlation between phylogenetic distances of the hosts and differences in community composition of the associated microbial communities, regardless of geographical distances. Our results align with numerous prior studies on phylosymbiosis across diverse animal taxa, as the observed pattern of phylosymbiosis between nemertean species and their associated microbiome provides evidence for the existence of a complex interplay between host identity and microbial diversity (Li et al, 2022;Tinker & Ottesen, 2020). Moreover, these results are consistent with previous investigations focusing on nemertean taxa associated with toxicity, which also demonstrated a strong association between nemertean species and their associated microbiome (Melnikova & Magarlamov, 2020).…”

“…Most studies investigating patterns of phylosymbiosis have predominantly focused on only a small fraction of animals such as mammals and other vertebrates (Brown et al, 2023;Ley et al, 2008;Moeller et al, 2017;Sadeghi et al, 2022), arthropods, particularly insects (Dunaj et al, 2020;Li et al, 2022;Tinker & Ottesen, 2020), or corals and sponges (Moitinho-Silva et al, 2017;Pushpakumara et al, 2023;Röthig et al, 2016;Sweet & Bulling, 2017;Thomas et al, 2016). Other organisms residing in various ecosystems and distinguished by a range of life histories have received relatively less attention in comparison.…”

Phylosymbiosis: The Eco-Evolutionary Pattern of Insect–Symbiont Interactions

“…In fungus-growing ants, cultivated fungi serve as the sole nutritional source for the larvae of attine ants [88]. Phylosymbiosis has been revealed in several Hymenoptera groups, i.e., fig wasps (Ceratosolen), parasitoid wasps (Nasonia), turtle ants (Cephalotes), and Formica ants [10,41,42,44]. Under controlled rearing conditions, the bacterial communities of parasitoid wasps of Nasonia mirror the host phylogeny at different developmental stages [9].…”