Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica ants
IntroductionInsects share intimate relationships with microbes that play important roles in their biology. Yet our understanding of how host-bound microbial communities assemble and perpetuate over evolutionary time is limited. Ants host a wide range of microbes with diverse functions and are an eme...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1044286/full |
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| author | Raphaella Jackson Patapios A. Patapiou Patapios A. Patapiou Gemma Golding Heikki Helanterä Heikki Helanterä Chloe K. Economou Michel Chapuisat Lee M. Henry |
| author_facet | Raphaella Jackson Patapios A. Patapiou Patapios A. Patapiou Gemma Golding Heikki Helanterä Heikki Helanterä Chloe K. Economou Michel Chapuisat Lee M. Henry |
| author_sort | Raphaella Jackson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionInsects share intimate relationships with microbes that play important roles in their biology. Yet our understanding of how host-bound microbial communities assemble and perpetuate over evolutionary time is limited. Ants host a wide range of microbes with diverse functions and are an emerging model for studying the evolution of insect microbiomes. Here, we ask whether phylogenetically related ant species have formed distinct and stable microbiomes.MethodsTo answer this question, we investigated the microbial communities associated with queens of 14 Formica species from five clades, using deep coverage 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.ResultsWe reveal that Formica species and clades harbor highly defined microbial communities that are dominated by four bacteria genera: Wolbachia, Lactobacillus, Liliensternia, and Spiroplasma. Our analysis reveals that the composition of Formica microbiomes mirrors the phylogeny of the host, i.e., phylosymbiosis, in that related hosts harbor more similar microbial communities. In addition, we find there are significant correlations between microbe co-occurrences.DiscussionOur results demonstrate Formica ants carry microbial communities that recapitulate the phylogeny of their hosts. Our data suggests that the co-occurrence of different bacteria genera may at least in part be due to synergistic and antagonistic interactions between microbes. Additional factors potentially contributing to the phylosymbiotic signal are discussed, including host phylogenetic relatedness, host-microbe genetic compatibility, modes of transmission, and similarities in host ecologies (e.g., diets). Overall, our results support the growing body of evidence that microbial community composition closely depends on the phylogeny of their hosts, despite bacteria having diverse modes of transmission and localization within the host. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:18:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7fe3d240a1704612b278f4738f0b07c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:18:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-7fe3d240a1704612b278f4738f0b07c42023-05-05T05:26:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2023-05-011410.3389/fmicb.2023.10442861044286Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica antsRaphaella Jackson0Patapios A. Patapiou1Patapios A. Patapiou2Gemma Golding3Heikki Helanterä4Heikki Helanterä5Chloe K. Economou6Michel Chapuisat7Lee M. Henry8School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomSchool of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomDepartment of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, United KingdomSchool of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomEcology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, FinlandTvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, FinlandSchool of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomDepartment of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandSchool of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomIntroductionInsects share intimate relationships with microbes that play important roles in their biology. Yet our understanding of how host-bound microbial communities assemble and perpetuate over evolutionary time is limited. Ants host a wide range of microbes with diverse functions and are an emerging model for studying the evolution of insect microbiomes. Here, we ask whether phylogenetically related ant species have formed distinct and stable microbiomes.MethodsTo answer this question, we investigated the microbial communities associated with queens of 14 Formica species from five clades, using deep coverage 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.ResultsWe reveal that Formica species and clades harbor highly defined microbial communities that are dominated by four bacteria genera: Wolbachia, Lactobacillus, Liliensternia, and Spiroplasma. Our analysis reveals that the composition of Formica microbiomes mirrors the phylogeny of the host, i.e., phylosymbiosis, in that related hosts harbor more similar microbial communities. In addition, we find there are significant correlations between microbe co-occurrences.DiscussionOur results demonstrate Formica ants carry microbial communities that recapitulate the phylogeny of their hosts. Our data suggests that the co-occurrence of different bacteria genera may at least in part be due to synergistic and antagonistic interactions between microbes. Additional factors potentially contributing to the phylosymbiotic signal are discussed, including host phylogenetic relatedness, host-microbe genetic compatibility, modes of transmission, and similarities in host ecologies (e.g., diets). Overall, our results support the growing body of evidence that microbial community composition closely depends on the phylogeny of their hosts, despite bacteria having diverse modes of transmission and localization within the host.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1044286/fullphylosymbiosisendosymbiontantmicrobiomeevolution |
| spellingShingle | Raphaella Jackson Patapios A. Patapiou Patapios A. Patapiou Gemma Golding Heikki Helanterä Heikki Helanterä Chloe K. Economou Michel Chapuisat Lee M. Henry Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica ants Frontiers in Microbiology phylosymbiosis endosymbiont ant microbiome evolution |
| title | Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica ants |
| title_full | Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica ants |
| title_fullStr | Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica ants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica ants |
| title_short | Evidence of phylosymbiosis in Formica ants |
| title_sort | evidence of phylosymbiosis in formica ants |
| topic | phylosymbiosis endosymbiont ant microbiome evolution |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1044286/full |
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