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Effects of Host Species Identity and Diet on the Biodiversity of the Microbiota in Puerto Rican Bats

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Abstract

Microbiota perform vital functions for their mammalian hosts, making them potential drivers of host evolution. Understanding effects of environmental factors and host characteristics on the composition and biodiversity of the microbiota may provide novel insights into the origin and maintenance of these symbiotic relationships. Our goals were to (1) characterize biodiversity of oral and rectal microbiota in bats from Puerto Rico; and (2) determine the effects of geographic location and host characteristics on that biodiversity. We collected bats and their microbiota from three sites, and used four metrics (species richness, Shannon diversity, Camargo evenness, Berger-Parker dominance) to characterize biodiversity. We quantified the relative importance of site, host sex, host species-identity, and host foraging-guild on biodiversity of the microbiota. Microbe biodiversity was highly variable among conspecifics. Geographical location exhibited consistent effects, whereas host sex did not. Within each host guild, host species exhibited consistent differences in biodiversity of oral microbiota and of rectal microbiota. Oral microbe biodiversity was indistinguishable between guilds, whereas rectal microbe biodiversity was significantly greater in carnivores than in herbivores. The high intraspecific and spatial variation in microbe biodiversity necessitate a relatively large number of samples to statistically isolate the effects of environmental or host characteristics on the microbiota. Species-specific biodiversity of oral microbiota suggests these communities are structured by direct interactions with the host immune system via epithelial receptors. In contrast, the number of microbial taxa that a host gut supports may be driven by host diet-diversity or composition.

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Data Availability

Sequencing data of V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene has been deposited in the NCBI Short Read Archive database under BioProject PRJNA602518 and accession numbers SRX7587313-7587772.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge our team of field volunteers, Armando Rodríguez-Duran for logistical help, and Para la Naturaleza for providing access to the Rio Encantado field site.

Funding

This work was supported by a Microbiome Research Seed Grant to MRW and JG from the Office of the Vice President of Research at the University of Connecticut. In addition, SJP and MRW were supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB-1546686 and DEB-1831952) as well as by the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering and Institute of the Environment at the University of Connecticut.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of the Environment, Center for Environmental Sciences & Engineering, and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 3107 Horsebarn Hill Road, Storrs, CT, 06269-4210, USA

    Steven J. Presley, Anna R. Sjodin & Michael R. Willig

  2. Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269-3125, USA

    Joerg Graf & Ahmad F. Hassan

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA

    Anna R. Sjodin

Authors
  1. Steven J. Presley
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  4. Anna R. Sjodin
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  5. Michael R. Willig
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Contributions

MRW and JG conceived the project, and with SJP and ARS crafted the experimental design. ARS conducted sample collection. AFH conducted laboratory analyses. SJP conducted statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript. All authors critically reviewed multiple drafts of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Steven J. Presley.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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All methods were approved by the University of Connecticut Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC, protocol A15-032).

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Presley, S.J., Graf, J., Hassan, A.F. et al. Effects of Host Species Identity and Diet on the Biodiversity of the Microbiota in Puerto Rican Bats. Curr Microbiol 78, 3526–3540 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-021-02607-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-021-02607-5

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