Härer Andreas, Frazier Christine J, Rennison Diana J
School of Biological Sciences, Department of Ecology, Behavior & Evolution, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
R Soc Open Sci. 2024 Jun 26;11(6):240649. doi: 10.1098/rsos.240649. eCollection 2024 Jun.
Host-microbiota interactions play a critical role in the hosts' biology, and thus, it is crucial to elucidate the mechanisms that shape gut microbial communities. We leveraged threespine stickleback fish () as a model system to investigate the contribution of host and environmental factors to gut microbiota variation. These fish offer a unique opportunity for experiments in naturalistic conditions; we reared benthic and limnetic ecotypes from three different lakes in experimental ponds, allowing us to assess the relative effects of shared environment (pond), geographic origin (lake-of-origin), trophic ecology and genetics (ecotype) and biological sex on gut microbiota α- and β-diversity. Host ecotype had the strongest influence on α-diversity, with benthic fish exhibiting higher diversity than limnetic fish, followed by the rearing environment. β-diversity was primarily shaped by rearing environment, followed by host ecotype, indicating that environmental factors play a crucial role in determining gut microbiota composition. Furthermore, numerous bacterial orders were differentially abundant across ponds, underlining the substantial contribution of environmental factors to gut microbiota variation. Our study illustrates the complex interplay between environmental and host ecological or genetic factors in shaping the stickleback gut microbiota and highlights the value of experiments conducted under naturalistic conditions for understanding gut microbiota dynamics.
宿主-微生物群相互作用在宿主生物学中起着关键作用，因此，阐明塑造肠道微生物群落的机制至关重要。我们利用三刺鱼作为模型系统，研究宿主和环境因素对肠道微生物群变化的贡献。这些鱼为在自然条件下进行实验提供了独特的机会；我们在实验池塘中饲养了来自三个不同湖泊的底栖和湖沼生态型鱼类，从而能够评估共享环境（池塘）、地理起源（起源湖泊）、营养生态和遗传学（生态型）以及生物性别对肠道微生物群α多样性和β多样性的相对影响。宿主生态型对α多样性的影响最强，底栖鱼类的多样性高于湖沼鱼类，其次是饲养环境。β多样性主要由饲养环境决定，其次是宿主生态型，这表明环境因素在决定肠道微生物群组成方面起着关键作用。此外，不同池塘中许多细菌目丰度存在差异，突出了环境因素对肠道微生物群变化的重大贡献。我们的研究阐明了环境与宿主生态或遗传因素在塑造三刺鱼肠道微生物群方面的复杂相互作用，并强调了在自然条件下进行实验对于理解肠道微生物群动态的价值。
