Microbiota Diversity Within and Between the Tissues of Two Wild Interbreeding Species

• Published in: Microbial ecology Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 799 - 810
• Main Authors: Guivier, Emmanuel, Martin, Jean-François, Pech, Nicolas, Ungaro, Arnaud, Chappaz, Rémi, Gilles, André
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Science + Business Media 01.04.2018; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Animal biology; Animals; Bacteria; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Barriers; Biodiversity; Biological phenomena; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Community composition; Cyprinidae - microbiology; DNA, Bacterial; Ecology; Exploration; Female; France; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Genomes; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Geographical distribution; Gills; Gills - microbiology; HOST MICROBE INTERACTIONS; Host Microbial Interactions - genetics; Host Microbial Interactions - physiology; Host Specificity; Hybrid zones; Hybridization, Genetic; Hybrids; Interactions; Life Sciences; Male; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Microbiology and Parasitology; Microbiota; Microbiota - genetics; Microbiota - physiology; Mucosa; Mucous Membrane - microbiology; Nature Conservation; Parapatric populations; Phylogeny; Reproductive behaviour; Reproductive isolation; Skin; Skin - microbiology; Speciation; Species; Tissue; Tissues; Vertebrate Zoology; Water Quality/Water Pollution; France; Introgressive hybridization; Cyprinid species; Core microbiota; Mucosal tissues; core microbiota; mucosal tissues; cyprinid species; introgressive hybridization
• ISSN: 0095-3628; 1432-184X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00248-017-1077-9

Understanding the role of microbiota as reproductive barriers or sources of adaptive novelty in the fundamental biological phenomenon of speciation is an exciting new challenge necessitating exploration of microbiota variation in wild interbreeding species. We focused on two interbreeding cyprinid species, Chondrostoma nasus and Parachondrostoma toxostoma, which have geographic distributions characterized by a mosaic of hybrid zones. We described microbiota diversity and composition in the three main teleost mucosal tissues, the skin, gills and gut, in the parental parapatric populations. We found that tissue type was the principal determinant of bacterial community composition. In particular, there was strong microbiota differentiation between external and internal tissues, with secondary discrimination between the two species. These findings suggest that specific environmental and genetic filters associated with each species have shaped the bacterial communities, potentially reflecting deterministic assemblages of bacteria. We defined the core microbiota common to both Chondrostoma species for each tissue, highlighting the occurrence of microbe-host genome interactions at this critical level for studies of the functional consequences of hybridization. Further investigations will explore to what extend these specific tissue-associated microbiota signatures could be profoundly altered in hybrids, with functional consequences for post-mating reproductive isolation in relation to environmental constraints.