Lemoine Marion Margaux, Wöhner Thomas, Kaltenpoth Martin
Department of Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI), Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Crops, Dresden, Germany.
Environ Microbiol. 2025 Jun;27(6):e70104. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.70104.
Many insects benefit from gut microbes that contribute to digestion, detoxification, nutrient supplementation or defence. Although abiotic and biotic factors are known to shape insect-associated microbial communities, the seasonal dynamics and their potential impact on host fitness remain poorly studied. Here we investigated the temporal changes in bacterial and fungal communities associated with the model organism Drosophila melanogaster over 5 months. Our results reveal high inter-individual variation, but also consistent changes in microbial communities of three wild D. melanogaster populations from early spring to late summer. These changes were driven by specific indicator species, particularly Acetobacteraceae bacteria (Gluconobacter and Komagataeibacter) and Saccharomycetales yeasts (Pichia, Starmerella, Kregervanrija, Hanseniaspora, Saccharomycopsis, Priceomyces and Dipodascopsis). The temporal dynamics were not accompanied by differences in the total bacterial or fungal abundance, and alpha-diversity only changed across sampling months for the fungal but not the bacterial communities. While the changes in D. melanogaster-associated microbial communities are likely driven by the exposure to seasonally changing microbial environments and diets, they may have important impacts on host fitness. Elucidating the potential adaptive value of seasonally changing microbial communities will enhance our understanding of how symbiotic microbes may contribute to ecological niche shifts and geographic range expansions in insects.
许多昆虫受益于肠道微生物，这些微生物有助于消化、解毒、营养补充或防御。虽然已知非生物和生物因素会塑造与昆虫相关的微生物群落，但季节性动态及其对宿主适应性的潜在影响仍研究不足。在这里，我们调查了模式生物黑腹果蝇在5个月内与其相关的细菌和真菌群落的时间变化。我们的结果揭示了个体间的高度差异，但也显示了来自早春到晚夏的三个野生黑腹果蝇种群微生物群落的一致变化。这些变化是由特定的指示物种驱动的，特别是醋杆菌科细菌（葡糖杆菌属和科马加塔埃希氏菌属）和酵母目酵母（毕赤酵母属、斯塔默酵母属、克雷格凡里亚酵母属、汉逊酵母属、拟酵母属、普赖斯酵母属和双足酵母属）。时间动态并没有伴随着细菌或真菌总丰度的差异，并且仅真菌群落的α多样性在不同采样月份发生了变化，而细菌群落没有。虽然与黑腹果蝇相关的微生物群落的变化可能是由季节性变化的微生物环境和饮食暴露所驱动的，但它们可能对宿主适应性产生重要影响。阐明季节性变化的微生物群落的潜在适应性价值将增进我们对共生微生物如何促进昆虫生态位转移和地理范围扩展的理解。
