Ecology and Host Identity Outweigh Evolutionary History in Shaping the Bat Microbiome

• DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00511-19
• Publication Date: 2019-11-11T10:51:00Z
• Authors: Holly L. Lutz; Elliot W. Jackson; Paul W. Webala; Waswa S. Babyesiza; Julian C. Kerbis ...; Terrence C. Demos; Bruce D. Patterson; Jack A. Gilbert
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; 03 medical and health sciences; Chiroptera; 2.2 Factors relating to the physical environment; microbiome; phylosymbiosis; Aetiology; 15. Life on land; Afrotropics; Microbiology; QR1-502; Research Article

This study is the first to provide a comprehensive survey of bacterial symbionts from multiple anatomical sites across a broad taxonomic range of Afrotropical bats, demonstrating significant associations between the bat microbiome and anatomical site, geographic locality, and host identity—but not evolutionary history. This study provides a framework for future systems biology approaches to examine host-symbiont relationships across broad taxonomic scales, emphasizing the need to elucidate the interplay between host ecology and evolutionary history in shaping the microbiome of different anatomical sites.