Terrestriality and bacterial transfer: a comparative study of gut microbiomes in sympatric Malagasy mammals.

ABSTRACT: The gut microbiomes of mammals appear to mirror their hosts' phylogeny, suggesting host-driven microbial community assembly. Yet, much of this evidence stems from comparative studies of distinct wild or captive populations that lack data for disentangling the relative influences of shared phylogeny and environment. Here, we present phylogenetic and multivariate analyses of gut microbiomes from six sympatric (i.e., co-occurring) mammal species inhabiting a 1-km² area in western Madagascar-three lemur and three non-primate species-that consider genetic, dietary, and ecological predictors of microbiome functionality and composition. Host evolutionary history, indeed, appears to shape gut microbial patterns among both closely and distantly related species. However, we also find that

SUBMITTER: Perofsky AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6299109 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature