Title: Microbial community assembly across early host development
Abstract:
Most adult mammals harbor taxonomically rich and distinct microbiomes. When comparing multiple species, similarities in the host-associated microbiota often mirror the shared evolutionary history of the host species, an eco-evolutionary pattern termed ‘phylosymbiosis’. Phylosymbiotic signatures are both widespread and repeatable, making them a useful point of focus to generate a priori hypotheses with clear predictions, often a limitation for the microbiome field. However, we have very little knowledge of phylosymbiosis prevalence during stages of early host development, when the microbiome of the host mammalian is typically less taxonomically diverse. Here I utilize multiple species of Peromyscus mice that, as adults, are known to harbor distinct host-associated microbiomes following the pattern of phylosymbiosis, to characterize the timing of acquisition and community assembly of species-specific microbiota across early host development. I will present my findings for how the gut microbiome community assembles across early host development, as well as how the dissimilarity of the gut microbiota of the four species changes over these developmental time periods. To our knowledge, this will be the first study that elucidates the timing of phylosymbiotic pattern emergence and microbial community assembly across multiple host species.
Kohl Lab
Friday, April 12th, 2024
12:00PM
Langley A219B