Social transmission of bacterial symbionts homogenizes the microbiome within and across generations of group-living spiders.

ABSTRACT: Disentangling modes and fidelity of symbiont transmission are key for understanding host-symbiont associations in wild populations. In group-living animals, social transmission may evolve to ensure high-fidelity transmission of symbionts, since non-reproducing helpers constitute a dead-end for vertical transmission. We investigated symbiont transmission in the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola, which lives in family groups where the majority of females are non-reproducing helpers, females feed offspring by regurgitation, and individuals feed communally on insect prey. Group members share temporally stable microbiomes across generations, while distinct variation in microbiome composition exists between groups. We hypothesized that horizontal transmission of symbionts is enhanced by social

SUBMITTER: Rose C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10276852 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature