Host dispersal relaxes selective pressures in rafting microbiomes and triggers successional changes.

ABSTRACT: What little we know about how microbiomes change over the course of host dispersal has been gleaned from simulations or snapshot sampling of microbiomes of hosts undertaking regular, cyclical migrations. These studies suggest that major changes in both microbiome richness and turnover occur in response to long-distance movements, but we do not yet know how rare or sporadic dispersal events for non-migratory organisms might affect the microbiomes of their hosts. Here we directly examine the microbiomes of rafting seaweed, leveraging host genomic analyses, amplicon sequencing, and oceanographic modelling to study the impacts of ecological dispersal of hosts on their microbiomes. We find that once dislodged from coastal shores and adrift, kelp-associated microbial communities change profoundl

SUBMITTER: Pearman WS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11685921 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature