Microbiome evolution plays a secondary role in host rapid adaptation.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how populations adapt to environmental change is a central goal in evolutionary biology. Microbiomes have been proposed as a source of heritable variation that is central to rapid adaptation in hosts, yet empirical evidence supporting this remains limited, particularly in naturalistic settings. We combined a field evolution experiment in Drosophila melanogaster exposed to an insecticide with microbiome manipulations to disentangle the contributions of host standing genetic variation and microbiome evolution to adaptation. Within three generations, independent populations rapidly and repeatedly evolved increased survivorship, a defining feature of resistance evolution. Adaptive changes in sub-lethal traits such as reproductive output, stress tolerance, and body size occ

SUBMITTER: Shahmohamadloo RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12236828 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature