Herptile Gut Microbiomes: a Natural System to Study Multi-kingdom Interactions Between Filamentous Fungi and Bacteria
Vargas-Gastélum L, Romer AS, Ghotbi M, Dallas JW, Alexander NR, Moe KC, McPhail KL, Neuhaus GF, Shadmani L, Spatafora JW, Stajich JE, Tabima JF, Walker DM. 2024. Herptile Gut Microbiomes: a Natural System to Study Multi-kingdom Interactions Between Filamentous Fungi and Bacteria. mSphere. 9(3):1-22
ABSTRACT: Reptiles and amphibians (herptiles) are some of the most endangered and threatened species on the planet and numerous conservation strategies are being implemented with the goal of ensuring species recovery. Little is known, however, about the gut microbiome of wild herptiles and how it relates to the health of these populations. Here, we report results from the gut microbiome characterization of both a broad survey of herptiles, and the correlation between the fungus Basidiobolus, and the bacterial community supported by a deeper, more intensive sampling of Plethodon glutinosus, known as slimy salamanders. We demonstrate that bacterial communities sampled from frogs, lizards, and salamanders are structured by the host taxonomy and that Basidiobolus is a common and natural component of these wild gut microbiomes. Intensive sampling of multiple hosts across the ecoregions of Tennessee revealed that geography and host:geography interactions are strong predictors of distinct Basidiobolus operational taxonomic units present within a given host. Co-occurrence analyses of Basidiobolus and bacterial community diversity support a correlation and interaction between Basidiobolus and bacteria, suggesting that Basidiobolus may play a role in structuring the bacterial community. We further the hypothesis that this interaction is advanced by unique specialized metabolism originating from horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to Basidiobolus and demonstrate that Basidiobolus is capable of producing a diversity of specialized metabolites including small cyclic peptides.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Vargas-Gastélum, Lluvia; Romer, Alexander; Ghotbi, Marjan; Dallas, Jason; Alexander, N; Moe, Kylie; McPhail, Kerry; Neuhaus, George; Shadmani, Leila; Spatafora, Joseph; Stajich, Jason; Tabima, Javier; Walker, Donald
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- amphibian, anaerobic gut fungi, cyclic peptide, GRSM-02161, mycobiome, non-ribosomal peptide synthetases, reptile, specialized metabolite