Fidelity varies in the symbiosis between a gutless marine worm and its microbial consortium.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many animals live in intimate associations with a species-rich microbiome. A key factor in maintaining these beneficial associations is fidelity, defined as the stability of associations between hosts and their microbiota over multiple host generations. Fidelity has been well studied in terrestrial hosts, particularly insects, over longer macroevolutionary time. In contrast, little is known about fidelity in marine animals with species-rich microbiomes at short microevolutionary time scales, that is at the level of a single host population. Given that natural selection acts most directly on local populations, studies of microevolutionary partner fidelity are important for revealing the ecological and evolutionary processes that drive intimate beneficial associations with

SUBMITTER: Sato Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9587655 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature