Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Beetles are ubiquitous cave invertebrates worldwide that adapted to scarce subterranean resources when they colonized caves. Here, we investigated the potential role of gut microbiota in the adaptation of beetles to caves from different climatic regions of the Carpathians. The beetles' microbiota was host-specific, reflecting phylogenetic and nutritional adaptation. The microbial community structure further resolved conspecific beetles by caves suggesting microbiota-host coevolution and influences by local environmental factors. The detritivore species hosted a variety of bacteria known to decompose and ferment organic matter, suggesting turnover and host cooperative digestion of the sedimentary microbiota and allochthonous-derived nutrients. The cave Carabidae, with strong mandibula, adapted to predation and scavenging of animal and plant remains, had distinct microbiota dominated by symbiotic lineages Spiroplasma or Wolbachia. All beetles had relatively high levels of fermentative Carnobacterium and Vagococcus involved in lipid accumulation and a reduction of metabolic activity, and both features characterize adaptation to caves.
Source: Environmental Microbiome
Institutions: Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Romanian Institute of Science and Technology, Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics, Babeș-Bolyai University
Language: English
Subfield: Insect Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,290
Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, Battelle, UT-Battelle, Ministerul Cercetării, Inovării şi Digitalizării, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii, Universitatea din București, National Institutes of Health, Office of Science, Colegiul Consultativ pentru Cercetare-Dezvoltare şi Inovare, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Biological and Environmental Research, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Awards: G1022090738, G1026679911, G121915436, G1645119126, G166562317, G1828931304, G203625172, G2584197162, G2988778103, G3121793570, G313676650, G4125627931, G4423657506, G450780475, From dark to dark: do bacterial ‘seeds’ from subsurface habitats find their place in lake hypolimnia?, G5726405315, Culturing of the uncultured: reverse genomics and multispecies consortia in oral, G6139676266, G675320460, G8269158468, G8906985441, G8932311433, G8943143067
OpenAlex ID: W4388627571