We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Gut microbiota reflect adaptation of cave-dwelling tadpoles to resource scarcity
Summary
Researchers studied the gut microbiota of cave-dwelling frog tadpoles that spend three to five years developing underground in resource-scarce conditions. They found that the cave dwellers harbored unique bacterial communities enriched in enzymes for breaking down plant fibers and producing short-chain fatty acids, potentially aiding nutrition under food scarcity. The study suggests that gut microbiota play a key role in helping organisms adapt to extreme, nutrient-limited environments.
Gut microbiota are significant to the host's nutrition and provide a flexible way for the host to adapt to extreme environments. However, whether gut microbiota help the host to colonize caves, a resource-limited environment, remains unknown. The nonobligate cave frog Oreolalax rhodostigmatus completes its metamorphosis within caves for 3-5 years before foraging outside. Their tadpoles are occasionally removed from the caves by floods and utilize outside resources, providing a contrast to the cave-dwelling population. For both cave and outside tadpoles, the development-related reduction in their growth rate and gut length during prometamorphosis coincided with a shift in their gut microbiota, which was characterized by decreased Lactobacillus and Cellulosilyticum and Proteocatella in the cave and outside individuals, respectively. The proportion of these three genera was significantly higher in the gut microbiota of cave-dwelling individuals compared with those outside. The cave-dwellers' gut microbiota harbored more abundant fibrolytic, glycolytic, and fermentative enzymes and yielded more short-chain fatty acids, potentially benefitting the host's nutrition. Experimentally depriving the animals of food resulted in gut atrophy for the individuals collected outside the cave, but not for those from inside the cave. Imitating food scarcity reproduced some major microbial features (e.g. abundant Proteocatella and fermentative genes) of the field-collected cave individuals, indicating an association between the cave-associated gut microbiota and resource scarcity. Overall, the gut microbiota may reflect the adaptation of O. rhodostigmatus tadpoles to resource-limited environments. This extends our understanding of the role of gut microbiota in the adaptation of animals to extreme environments.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Comparative Analysis of Gut Microbiota Provides Insights into High-altitude Adaptation in Rana kukunoris on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau
Researchers used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize and compare the gut microbiota of the high-altitude frog Rana kukunoris on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau with two low-altitude frog species, Rana amurensis and Rana dybowskii. The comparative analysis aimed to identify microbial community differences that may reflect adaptive strategies to extreme high-altitude conditions including low oxygen and harsh temperatures.
Evidence for strong environmental control on bacterial microbiomes of Antarctic springtails
Researchers studied the bacterial communities living inside four species of Antarctic springtails (tiny soil insects) and found that geography — where the springtails lived — was a stronger influence on their gut microbiome than which species they were. This finding helps explain how extreme environments shape the microbial ecosystems inside animals, including those exposed to microplastic contamination.
Habitat disturbance influences the skin microbiome of a rediscovered neotropical-montane frog
Researchers studied the skin bacteria of a rediscovered montane frog in disturbed versus undisturbed habitats, finding that habitat degradation caused more chaotic and variable microbial communities — a pattern called dysbiosis. On the positive side, frogs in disturbed areas had higher levels of bacteria that may protect against the deadly chytrid fungus Bd, suggesting the frog's microbiome may be adapting to coexist with the pathogen over decades.
Ecological differentiation and assembly processes of abundant and rare bacterial subcommunities in karst groundwater
Researchers examined ecological differentiation between abundant and rare bacterial communities in karst groundwater in southwest China, revealing distinct assembly processes and environmental drivers that maintain ecosystem stability in these vulnerable aquifers.
A Thousand Meters Deep: Vertical Profiling of the Subterranean Microbiome of Gourgouthakas Cave
Researchers profiled the microbial communities of Gourgouthakas Cave in Crete down to 1,100 meters depth, isolating 820 bacterial strains and discovering that cave-derived microbes — particularly Pseudomonas and Streptomyces — harbor novel biosynthetic gene clusters and potent antagonistic activity against major agricultural pathogens.