Phylogeography and Ecological Niche Shape the Cichlid Fish Gut Microbiota in Central American and African Lakes.

ABSTRACT: Cichlid fishes, with their repeated colonization of lakes and subsequent radiations at different scales of phylogenetic and ecological diversification, offer an excellent model system to understand the factors shaping the host-gut microbiota association in nature. Here, we characterized the gut microbiota of the Amphilophus species complex from Central America (known as the Midas cichlid complex), encompassing 158 wild specimens (13 species) collected from seven Nicaraguan lakes, and combined these data with previously published data from two African lakes (spanning 29 species). Our aim was to comprehensively explore trends in microbiota variation and persistence along the large spatial and temporal scales of cichlid diversification (from the oldest radiation in L. Tanganyika, 9-12

SUBMITTER: Baldo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6803461 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature