article · Integrative and Comparative Biology
This research investigated the gut microbiomes and diets of three insectivorous bat species to understand how community structure is influenced by predicted functional properties. It found that while host diet and the specific composition of the microbiome community did not significantly relate, host diet and the overall metagenome function did. This suggests that diet directly selects for particular metagenomic functions rather than for specific microbial communities. A novel inference framework was used to explain this discrepancy, highlighting that functional equivalence and the continuum of shared and derived gene sets across microbial lineages play a role. These findings clarify how metagenome community structure-function relationships contribute to deterministic processes in community assembly and explain metagenomic differences among ecologically similar hosts.
This research helps us understand how an animal's diet influences the functions of its gut microbes, even if the specific microbial species differ. Recognising that diet selects for functions, not just communities, is important for understanding host health, adaptation, and how microbial ecosystems are built.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway or potential for commercialisation. This research provides fundamental insights into the complex ecological and functional relationships between host diet and gut microbiomes, specifically in bats. It contributes to basic scientific understanding of how microbial communities are assembled and how they adapt to host environments.
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Host-associated microbiomes are integral components of host health, but microbiome community structure varies among and within hosts. Reconciling community variability with the apparent dependence of hosts on community function, and characterizing how functional divergence proceeds across niches, remains challenging. Here, through the study of gut microbiomes and diets of three insectivorous bat species we characterize how community structure is shaped by predicted functional properties of community members. We found that while host diet and microbiome community composition do not significantly relate to each other, host diet and metagenome function do, suggesting that diet directly selects metagenomic functions rather than communities. We use a novel inference framework to show how the discordance between community structure and functional variation derives from functional equivalence and is influenced by the continuum of shared and derived gene sets across microbial lineages. Our findings help clarify how metagenome community structure-function relationships contribute to deterministic processes in community assembly, and describe the basis for metagenomic differences across ecologically similar hosts.
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DOI: 10.1093/icb/icx011
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