Host habitat shapes the gut microbiomes of insular reptilian hosts in the Philippines.

ABSTRACT: Islands have long served as ideal, replicative "natural laboratories" to help identify the mechanisms that shape the diversity and distribution of plant and animal communities, and a burgeoning body of literature has utilized island-like systems to better understand the processes that shape microbial community diversity. Despite this expanded application, few studies have explored patterns of microbial diversity spanning true islands, especially among communities of microorganisms that colonize vertebrate hosts (i.e. microbiomes). Here, we use 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid microbial inventories to elucidate the roles that host evolutionary history, host habitat, host microhabitat, and geographic location play in the assemblage of gut microbiomes among reptilian hosts spanning multiple isl

SUBMITTER: Smith SN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12456179 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature