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Individuals' diet diversity influences gut microbial diversity in two freshwater fish (threespine stickleback and Eurasian perch).

ABSTRACT: Vertebrates' diets profoundly influence the composition of symbiotic gut microbial communities. Studies documenting diet-microbiota associations typically focus on univariate or categorical diet variables. However, in nature individuals often consume diverse combinations of foods. If diet components act independently, each providing distinct microbial colonists or nutrients, we expect a positive relationship between diet diversity and microbial diversity. We tested this prediction within each of two fish species (stickleback and perch), in which individuals vary in their propensity to eat littoral or pelagic invertebrates or mixtures of both prey. Unexpectedly, in most cases individuals with more generalised diets had less diverse microbiota than dietary specialists, in both natural and laboratory populations. This negative association between diet diversity and microbial diversity was small but significant, and most apparent after accounting for complex interactions between sex, size and diet. Our results suggest that multiple diet components can interact non-additively to influence gut microbial diversity.

SUBMITTER: Bolnick DI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4084827 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Individuals' diet diversity influences gut microbial diversity in two freshwater fish (threespine stickleback and Eurasian perch).

Bolnick Daniel I DI Snowberg Lisa K LK Hirsch Philipp E PE Lauber Christian L CL Knight Rob R Caporaso J Gregory JG Svanbäck Richard R

Ecology letters 20140522 8

Vertebrates' diets profoundly influence the composition of symbiotic gut microbial communities. Studies documenting diet-microbiota associations typically focus on univariate or categorical diet variables. However, in nature individuals often consume diverse combinations of foods. If diet components act independently, each providing distinct microbial colonists or nutrients, we expect a positive relationship between diet diversity and microbial diversity. We tested this prediction within each of ...[more]

PMID: 24847735

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Project description:Neutral genetic structure of natural populations is primarily influenced by migration (the movement of individuals and, subsequently, their genes) and drift (the statistical chance of losing genetic diversity over time). Migration between populations is influenced by several factors, including individual behavior, physical barriers, and environmental heterogeneity among populations. However, drift is expected to be stronger in populations with low immigration rate and small effective population size. With the technological advancement in geological information systems and spatial analysis tools, landscape genetics now allows the development of realistic migration models and increased insight to important processes influencing diversity of natural populations. In this study, we investigated the relationship between landscape connectivity and genetic distance of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) inhabiting a pond complex in Belgjarskógur, Northeast Iceland. We used two landscape genetic approaches (i.e., least-cost-path and isolation-by-resistance) and asked whether gene flow, as measured by genetic distance, was more strongly associated with Euclidean distance (isolation-by-distance) or with landscape connectivity provided by areas prone to flooding (as indicated by Carex sp. cover)? We found substantial genetic structure across the study area, with pairwise genetic distances among populations (DPS) ranging from 0.118 to 0.488. Genetic distances among populations were more strongly correlated with least-cost-path and isolation-by-resistance than with Euclidean distance, whereas the relative contribution of isolation-by-resistance and Euclidian distance could not be disentangled. These results indicate that migration among stickleback populations occurs via periodically flooded areas. Overall, this study highlights the importance of transient landscape elements influencing migration and genetic structure of populations at small spatial scales.

Dataset Information

Individuals' diet diversity influences gut microbial diversity in two freshwater fish (threespine stickleback and Eurasian perch).

Publications

Individuals' diet diversity influences gut microbial diversity in two freshwater fish (threespine stickleback and Eurasian perch).

Similar Datasets

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