Malagon Daniel A, Camper Benjamin, Millard Sophie, Harden Curt, Gil Ernesto Recuerdo, Caterino Michael, Greene Maslyn Ann, Seekatz Anna, Bordenstein Seth R, Bordenstein Sarah R, Bewick Sharon
Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America.
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States of America.
bioRxiv. 2025 Aug 15:2025.08.11.669684. doi: 10.1101/2025.08.11.669684.
Like all ecological communities, host-associated (HA) microbiota are shaped by environmental selection and dispersal limitation. However, unlike communities of free-living organisms, communities of HA microbes experience selection and dispersal at two separate scales - the scale of the microbes and the scale of their hosts. Thus, HA microbes must tolerate not only the environment created by their host (microbe-scale environment), but also, the environment in which their host resides (host-scale environment). Likewise, HA microbes can disperse between hosts through either horizontal or vertical transmission (microbe-scale dispersal) but can also disperse between locations through host movement (host-scale dispersal). In this paper, we examine how multiscale environmental selection and dispersal limitation shape the genetics and HA microbiota of ants in the (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) complex. We begin by showing how spatial variation in genetics is shaped by host-scale environmental selection and dispersal limitation. We then show how this allows both host- and microbe-scale environmental selection to govern spatial variation in microbiota. Finally, we discuss the possibility that microbe-scale dispersal limitation also impacts spatial variation in microbiota and that this, in turn, may contribute to spatial variation in genetics. Ultimately, our results help to shed light on the myriad of interacting factors governing spatial variation in HA microbiota, including the potential for complex, bidirectional interactions between host- and microbe-scale processes.
与所有生态群落一样，宿主相关（HA）微生物群是由环境选择和扩散限制塑造的。然而，与自由生活生物群落不同，HA微生物群落经历选择和扩散的尺度有两个——微生物的尺度和它们宿主的尺度。因此，HA微生物不仅必须耐受其宿主创造的环境（微生物尺度环境），还必须耐受其宿主所处的环境（宿主尺度环境）。同样，HA微生物可以通过水平或垂直传播在宿主之间扩散（微生物尺度扩散），但也可以通过宿主移动在不同地点之间扩散（宿主尺度扩散）。在本文中，我们研究了多尺度环境选择和扩散限制如何塑造蚁科（膜翅目：蚁科）复合体中蚂蚁的遗传学和HA微生物群。我们首先展示了宿主尺度环境选择和扩散限制如何塑造蚁遗传学的空间变异。然后我们展示了这如何使宿主尺度和微生物尺度的环境选择都能控制蚁微生物群的空间变异。最后，我们讨论了微生物尺度扩散限制也影响蚁微生物群空间变异的可能性，而这反过来可能导致蚁遗传学的空间变异。最终，我们的结果有助于阐明控制HA微生物群空间变异的众多相互作用因素，包括宿主尺度和微生物尺度过程之间复杂双向相互作用的可能性。
