Ecology and Host Identity Outweigh Evolutionary History in Shaping the Bat Microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies of mammalian microbiomes have identified strong phylogenetic effects on bacterial community composition. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) are among the most speciose mammals on the planet and the only mammal capable of true flight. We examined 1,236 16S rRNA amplicon libraries of the gut, oral, and skin microbiota from 497 Afrotropical bats (representing 9 families, 20 genera, and 31 species) to assess the extent to which host ecology and phylogeny predict microbial community similarity in bats. In contrast to recent studies of host-microbe associations in other mammals, we found no correlation between chiropteran phylogeny and bacterial community dissimilarity across the three anatomical sites sampled. For all anatomical sites, we found host species identity and geographic local

SUBMITTER: Lutz HL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7407897 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature