Biology
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Reptiles and amphibians (herptiles) are some of the most endangered and threatened species on the planet and numerous conservation strategies are being implemented with the goal of ensuring species recovery. Little is known, however, about the gut microbiome of wild herptiles and how it relates to the health of these populations. Here, we report results from the gut microbiome characterization of both a broad survey of herptiles, and the correlation between the fungus Basidiobolus, and the bacterial community supported by a deeper, more intensive sampling of Plethodon glutinosus, known as slimy salamanders. We demonstrate that bacterial communities sampled from frogs, lizards, and salamanders are structured by the host taxonomy and that Basidiobolus is a common and natural component of these wild gut microbiomes. Intensive sampling of multiple hosts across the ecoregions of Tennessee revealed that geography and host:geography interactions are strong predictors of distinct Basidiobolus operational taxonomic units present within a given host. Co-occurrence analyses of Basidiobolus and bacterial community diversity support a correlation and interaction between Basidiobolus and bacteria, suggesting that Basidiobolus may play a role in structuring the bacterial community. We further the hypothesis that this interaction is advanced by unique specialized metabolism originating from horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to Basidiobolus and demonstrate that Basidiobolus is capable of producing a diversity of specialized metabolites including small cyclic peptides. © 2024 Vargas-Gastélum et al.
Publication Title
mSphere
Publication Date
3-2024
Volume
9
Issue
3
ISSN
2379-5042
DOI
10.1128/msphere.00475-23
Keywords
amphibian, anaerobic gut fungi, cyclic peptide, mycobiome, non-ribosomal peptide synthetases, reptile, specialized metabolite
Repository Citation
Vargas-Gastélum, Lluvia; Romer, Alexander S.; Ghotbi, Marjan; Dallas, Jason W.; Alexander, Reed. N.; Moe, Kylie C.; McPhail, Kerry L.; Neuhaus, George F.; Shadmani, Leila; Spatafora, Joseph W.; Stajich, Jason E.; Tabima, Javier F.; and Walker, Donald M., "Herptile gut microbiomes: a natural system to study multi-kingdom interactions between filamentous fungi and bacteria" (2024). Biology. 23.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_biology/23
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Publisher source must be acknowledged with citation:
Vargas-Gastélum, L., Romer, A. S., Ghotbi, M., Dallas, J. W., Alexander, N. R., Moe, K. C., ... & Walker, D. M. (2024). Herptile gut microbiomes: a natural system to study multi-kingdom interactions between filamentous fungi and bacteria. Msphere, e00475-23.