title: Amphibian gut microbiota shifts differentially in community structure but converges on habitat-specific predicted functions.
abstract: Complex microbial communities inhabit vertebrate digestive systems but thorough understanding of the ecological dynamics and functions of host-associated microbiota within natural habitats is limited. We investigate the role of environmental conditions in shaping gut and skin microbiota under natural conditions by performing a field survey and reciprocal transfer experiments with salamander larvae inhabiting two distinct habitats (ponds and streams). We show that gut and skin microbiota are habitat-specific, demonstrating environmental factors mediate community structure. Reciprocal transfer reveals that gut microbiota, but not skin microbiota, responds differentially to environmental change. Stream-to-pond larvae shift their gut microbiota to that of pond-to-pond larvae, whereas pond-to-stream larvae change to a community structure distinct from both habitat controls. Predicted functions, however, match that of larvae from the destination habitats in both cases. Thus, microbial function can be matched without taxonomic coherence and gut microbiota appears to exhibit metagenomic plasticity.
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 4, Braunschweig 38106, Germany.
authors.forename: Molly C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bletz
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 4, Braunschweig 38106, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Goedbloed
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 4, Braunschweig 38106, Germany.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Institute for Zoology and Cell Biology, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, Düsseldorf 40225, Germany.
authors.forename: Timm
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reinhardt
authors.forename: Christoph C
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4861-0214
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tebbe
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Department of Genome Analytics, Braunschweig 38124, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhuju
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Department of Genome Analytics, Braunschweig 38124, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Geffers
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Department of Genome Analytics, Braunschweig 38124, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jarek
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 4, Braunschweig 38106, Germany.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vences
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 4, Braunschweig 38106, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steinfartz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000235:genetics*; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology*; D054892:Metagenome / Q000235:genetics; D064307:Microbiota / Q000235:genetics; D061005:Ponds; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D045483:Rivers; D012454:Salamandra / Q000382:microbiology*; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S