DSSS - Co-diversification and co-adaptation in the mammalian gut microbiome
- Datum: 21.07.2023
- Uhrzeit: 15:00 - 16:00
- Vortragender: Andrew H. Moeller
- Assistant Professor Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Cornell University
- Ort: NO.002, MPI für Intelligente Systeme
![DSSS - Co-diversification and co-adaptation in the mammalian gut microbiome DSSS - Co-diversification and co-adaptation in the mammalian gut microbiome](/event_images/33292-1689342004.png)
Mammals harbor complex gut bacterial communities that are deeply integrated with their hosts’ phenotypes and fitness, but the evolutionary histories of these symbioses are poorly understood. In this seminar, I will show that gut bacteria have co-diversified with mammalian species over millions of years, and I will present experimental evidence that these long-term, intimate interactions have shaped the adaptive evolution of both symbionts and hosts. Genome-resolved metagenomic analyses of humans, non-human primates, and rodents revealed hundreds of gut bacterial clades descended from ancestral symbioses that have been maintained within host-species lineages for hundreds of thousands of host generations. Notably, nearly half of the co-diversifying gut bacteria present within wild living African apes were not detected in any human population sampled to date, indicating widespread extinctions of ancestral, host-species specific symbionts from humans. Experiments in germ-free mice showed that host-species specific microbiota display home-site advantage and promote fitness-related traits in their endogenous host species, indicative of co-adaptation between hosts and gut bacteria. Cumulatively, this work identifies ancient mammal-bacteria symbioses, including many that have been lost from humans, and demonstrates adaptive bases for their maintenance of these relationships.