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Fulgione D, Maselli V, Rivieccio E, Aceto S, Salvemini M, Buglione M. Evolutionary Plasticity in Insular Lizard, Adapting over Reproduction, Metabolism, and Color Variation. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:1478. [PMID: 38132304 PMCID: PMC10740616 DOI: 10.3390/biology12121478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
The Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) living on islets exhibits a melanic skin coloration and a suite of adaptive traits lacking in nearby mainland populations. On islets, the unpredictable environmental conditions and highly fluctuating population densities are believed to have produced reversed island syndrome (RIS). Several physiological, behavioral, and life-history changes based on the RIS could result from positive selection on increased activity of melanocortins. We hypothesize that phenotypes on islets are the product of a plastic variation depending on the regulation of specific genes. Focusing on control systems that determine the insular-adapted phenotype, we demonstrated that reproductive markers, involved in the hypothalamus-hypophysis-gonadal axis, and metabolism markers, flags for hypophysis-melanocortin receptors, are all up-regulated in island lizards under the RIS. This behavior, combined with the observed limited variation in the mitochondrial genome, agrees with the hypothesis that plasticity enables populations to persist in novel environmental conditions and that over time, natural selection will "fine-tune" the population to the environment by modifying the phenotype under selection. We believe that analysis of the transcriptome and the single gene expression, such that all the variations observed in the island populations, can be useful to shed light on evolutionary plasticity as a process affecting animals' populations in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Domenico Fulgione
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (D.F.); (S.A.); (M.S.); (M.B.)
| | - Valeria Maselli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (D.F.); (S.A.); (M.S.); (M.B.)
| | - Eleonora Rivieccio
- Department of Humanities Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy;
| | - Serena Aceto
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (D.F.); (S.A.); (M.S.); (M.B.)
| | - Marco Salvemini
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (D.F.); (S.A.); (M.S.); (M.B.)
| | - Maria Buglione
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; (D.F.); (S.A.); (M.S.); (M.B.)
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Cordone A, Selci M, Barosa B, Bastianoni A, Bastoni D, Bolinesi F, Capuozzo R, Cascone M, Correggia M, Corso D, Di Iorio L, Misic C, Montemagno F, Ricciardelli A, Saggiomo M, Tonietti L, Mangoni O, Giovannelli D. Surface Bacterioplankton Community Structure Crossing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current Fronts. Microorganisms 2023; 11:microorganisms11030702. [PMID: 36985275 PMCID: PMC10054113 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11030702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the major current in the Southern Ocean, isolating the warm stratified subtropical waters from the more homogeneous cold polar waters. The ACC flows from west to east around Antarctica and generates an overturning circulation by fostering deep-cold water upwelling and the formation of new water masses, thus affecting the Earth's heat balance and the global distribution of carbon. The ACC is characterized by several water mass boundaries or fronts, known as the Subtropical Front (STF), Subantarctic Front (SAF), Polar Front (PF), and South Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF), identified by typical physical and chemical properties. While the physical characteristics of these fronts have been characterized, there is still poor information regarding the microbial diversity of this area. Here we present the surface water bacterioplankton community structure based on 16S rRNA sequencing from 13 stations sampled in 2017 between New Zealand to the Ross Sea crossing the ACC Fronts. Our results show a distinct succession in the dominant bacterial phylotypes present in the different water masses and suggest a strong role of sea surface temperatures and the availability of Carbon and Nitrogen in controlling community composition. This work represents an important baseline for future studies on the response of Southern Ocean epipelagic microbial communities to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelina Cordone
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Matteo Selci
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Bernardo Barosa
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Alessia Bastianoni
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Deborah Bastoni
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Francesco Bolinesi
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Rosaria Capuozzo
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Martina Cascone
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Monica Correggia
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Davide Corso
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Luciano Di Iorio
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Cristina Misic
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Dell'Ambiente e della Vita, Universitá di Genova, 16132 Genova, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Luca Tonietti
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Naples Parthenope, 80143 Naples, Italy
| | - Olga Mangoni
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario delle Scienze del Mare (CoNISMa), 00196 Rome, Italy
| | - Donato Giovannelli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnologies, National Research Council, 60125 Ancona, Italy
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute for Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
- Department of Marine and Coastal Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Marine Chemistry and Geology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02540, USA
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Petrelli S, Buglione M, Rivieccio E, Ricca E, Baccigalupi L, Scala G, Fulgione D. Reprogramming of the gut microbiota following feralization in Sus scrofa. Anim Microbiome 2023; 5:14. [PMID: 36823657 PMCID: PMC9951470 DOI: 10.1186/s42523-023-00235-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Wild boar has experienced several evolutionary trajectories from which domestic (under artificial selection) and the feral pig (under natural selection) originated. Strong adaptation deeply affects feral population's morphology and physiology, including the microbiota community. The gut microbiota is generally recognized to play a crucial role in maintaining host health and metabolism. To date, it is unclear whether feral populations' phylogeny, development stages or lifestyle have the greatest impact in shaping the gut microbiota, as well as how this can confer adaptability to new environments. Here, in order to deepen this point, we characterized the gut microbiota of feral population discriminating between juvenile and adult samples, and we compared it to the microbiota structure of wild boar and domestic pig as the references. Gut microbiota composition was estimated through the sequencing of the partial 16S rRNA gene by DNA metabarcoding and High Throughput Sequencing on DNA extracted from fecal samples. RESULTS The comparison of microbiota communities among the three forms showed significant differences. The feral form seems to carry some bacteria of both domestic pigs, derived from its ancestral condition, and wild boars, probably as a sign of a recent re-adaptation strategy to the natural environment. In addition, interestingly, feral pigs show some exclusive bacterial taxa, also suggesting an innovative nature of the evolutionary trajectories and an ecological segregation in feral populations, as already observed for other traits. CONCLUSIONS The feral pig showed a significant change between juvenile and adult microbiota suggesting an influence of the wild environment in which these populations segregate. However, it is important to underline that we certainly cannot overlook that these variations in the structure of the microbiota also depended on the different development stages of the animal, which in fact influence the composition of the intestinal microbiota. Concluding, the feral pigs represent a new actor living in the same geographical space as the wild boars, in which its gut microbial structure suggests that it is mainly the result of environmental segregation, most different from its closest relative. This gives rise to interesting fields of exploration regarding the changed ecological complexity and the consequent evolutionary destiny of the animal communities involved in this phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Petrelli
- grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, NA Italy
| | - Maria Buglione
- grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, NA Italy
| | - Eleonora Rivieccio
- grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XDepartment of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Via Porta Di Massa 1, 80133 Naples, Italy
| | - Ezio Ricca
- grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, NA Italy ,grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XTask Force On Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80100 Naples, NA Italy
| | - Loredana Baccigalupi
- grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XDepartment of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, NA Italy
| | - Giovanni Scala
- grid.4691.a0000 0001 0790 385XDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126 Naples, NA Italy
| | - Domenico Fulgione
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia 26, 80126, Naples, NA, Italy. .,Task Force On Microbiome Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80100, Naples, NA, Italy.
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Baldo L, Tavecchia G, Rotger A, Igual JM, Riera JL. Insular holobionts: persistence and seasonal plasticity of the Balearic wall lizard ( Podarcis lilfordi) gut microbiota. PeerJ 2023; 11:e14511. [PMID: 36620745 PMCID: PMC9817956 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Integrative studies of animals and associated microbial assemblages (i.e., the holobiont) are rapidly changing our perspectives on organismal ecology and evolution. Insular vertebrates provide ideal natural systems to understand patterns of host-gut microbiota coevolution, the resilience and plasticity these microbial communities over temporal and spatial scales, and ultimately their role in the host ecological adaptation. Methods Here we used the endemic Balearic wall lizard Podarcis lilfordi to dissect the drivers of the microbial diversity within and across host allopatric populations/islets. By focusing on three extensively studied populations/islets of Mallorca (Spain) and fecal sampling from individually identified lizards along two years (both in spring and autumn), we sorted out the effect of islet, sex, life stage, year and season on the microbiota composition. We further related microbiota diversity to host genetics, trophic ecology and expected annual metabolic changes. Results All the three populations showed a remarkable conservation of the major microbial taxonomic profile, while carrying their unique microbial signature at finer level of taxonomic resolution (Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs)). Microbiota distances across populations were compatible with both host genetics (based on microsatellites) and trophic niche distances (based on stable isotopes and fecal content). Within populations, a large proportion of ASVs (30-50%) were recurrently found along the four sampling dates. The microbial diversity was strongly marked by seasonality, with no sex effect and a marginal life stage and annual effect. The microbiota showed seasonal fluctuations along the two sampled years, primarily due to changes in the relative abundances of fermentative bacteria (mostly families Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae), without any major compositional turnover. Conclusions These results support a large resilience of the major compositional aspects of the P. lilfordi gut microbiota over the short-term evolutionary divergence of their host allopatric populations (<10,000 years), but also indicate an undergoing process of parallel diversification of the both host and associated gut microbes. Predictable seasonal dynamics in microbiota diversity suggests a role of microbiota plasticity in the lizards' metabolic adaptation to their resource-constrained insular environments. Overall, our study supports the need for longitudinal and integrative studies of host and associated microbes in natural systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Baldo
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain,Institute for Research on Biodiversity (IRBio), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Giacomo Tavecchia
- Animal Demography and Ecology Unit, IMEDEA, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Esporles, Spain
| | - Andreu Rotger
- Animal Demography and Ecology Unit, IMEDEA, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Esporles, Spain
| | - José Manuel Igual
- Animal Demography and Ecology Unit, IMEDEA, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Esporles, Spain
| | - Joan Lluís Riera
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Vasconcelos DS, Harris DJ, Damas-Moreira I, Pereira A, Xavier R. Factors shaping the gut microbiome of five species of lizards from different habitats. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15146. [PMID: 37187519 PMCID: PMC10178224 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Host-gut microbiota interactions are complex and can have a profound impact on the ecology and evolution of both counterparts. Several host traits such as systematics, diet and social behavior, and external factors such as prey availability and local environment are known to influence the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota. Methods In this study, we investigate the influence of systematics, sex, host size, and locality/habitat on gut microbiota diversity in five lizard species from two different sites in Portugal: Podarcis bocagei and Podarcis lusitanicus, living in syntopy in a rural area in northern Portugal (Moledo); the invasive Podarcis siculus and the native Podarcis virescens, living in sympatry in an urbanized environment (Lisbon); and the invasive Teira dugesii also living in an urban area (Lisbon). We also infer the potential microbial transmission occurring between species living in sympatry and syntopy. To achieve these goals, we use a metabarcoding approach to characterize the bacterial communities from the cloaca of lizards, sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA. Results Habitat/locality was an important factor explaining differences in gut bacterial composition and structure, with species from urbanized environments having higher bacterial diversity. Host systematics (i.e., species) influenced gut bacterial community structure only in lizards from the urbanized environment. We also detected a significant positive correlation between lizard size and gut bacterial alpha-diversity in the invasive species P. siculus, which could be due to its higher exploratory behavior. Moreover, estimates of bacterial transmission indicate that P. siculus may have acquired a high proportion of local microbiota after its introduction. These findings confirm that a diverse array of host and environmental factors can influence lizards' gut microbiota.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana S. Vasconcelos
- CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão da Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO - Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - D. James Harris
- CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão da Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO - Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | | | - Ana Pereira
- CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão da Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO - Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Raquel Xavier
- CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão da Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO - Campus de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal
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Dietary Variation Is Driven by Landscape Heterogeneity in an Insular Omnivorous Endemic Lizard, Revealed by DNA Metabarcoding. DIVERSITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/d14121078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Living on islands entails numerous challenges for animals, among which population density approaching the carrying capacity of trophic resources stands out. To overcome this limitation, many insular lizards can supplement their insectivorous diet with increasing portions of plant material. The Madeira wall lizard, Teira dugesii, is a medium-sized lacertid, endemic to the Madeira and Selvagens archipelagos. As common in this family, adults are sexually dimorphic with males being bigger than females. Previous dietary studies on morphological scatology identified a higher proportion of plant over animal prey items, changing according to the location and sex. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding to examine the diet of this lizard species quantifying it at a higher taxonomical resolution and enhancing the detection of soft-body prey that often go undetected in morphology-based studies. In a sample of 151 faecal samples from eight populations including different habitats and altitudes in Madeira, we identified 289 prey items belonging to eight animal and three plant Classes, encompassing 58 distinct orders and 140 families. Of these, 63 were identified up to the species level. The results support a strong trend towards herbivory in this species with plants representing almost 74% of the diet occurrences in contrast to the 26% of animal prey. Remarkably, the plant fraction of the diet remained stable across localities but varied with size and mass in males. As males grew bigger and heavier, they significantly increased their plant matter intake. Likely, larger bodies and abdomens allowed allocating longer and more complex digestive tracts harbouring intestinal flora to better decompose plant organic compounds. This allowed heavier animals to have a richer diet regime. However, diet richness and composition were not affected by either sex or size, while the locality had a significant effect on both diet components likely in response to local variation in prey availability. By including an increasing plant fraction into a primarily insectivorous diet, this insular lizard has not only enlarged its trophic niche but is also able to exploit more efficiently the highly variable resources provided by insular environments.
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Gut microbiota differs between two cold-climate lizards distributed in thermally different regions. BMC Ecol Evol 2022; 22:120. [PMID: 36271355 PMCID: PMC9585762 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02077-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The metabolic cold-climate adaption hypothesis predicts that animals from cold environments have relatively high metabolic rates compared with their warm-climate counterparts. However, studies testing this hypothesis are sparse. Here, we compared gut microbes between two cold-climate lizard species of the genus Phrynocephalus to see if gut microbiota could help lizards adapt to cold environments by promoting metabolism. We conducted a 2 species (P. erythrurus and P. przewalskii) × 2 temperatures (24 and 30 °C) factorial design experiment, whereby we kept lizards of two Phrynocephalus species at 24 and 30 °C for 25 d and then collected their fecal samples to analyze and compare the microbiota based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology. RESULTS The gut microbiota was mainly composed of bacteria of the phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Verrucomicrobia in both species (Proteobacteria > Firmicutes > Verrucomicrobiota in P. erythrurus, and Bacteroidetes > Proteobacteria > Firmicutes in P. przewalskii). Further analysis revealed that the gut microbiota promoted thermal adaptation in both lizard species, but with differences in the relative abundance of the contributory bacteria between the two species. An analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes revealed that the gut microbiota played important roles in metabolism, genetic information processing, cellular processes, and environmental information processing in both species. Furthermore, genes related to metabolism were more abundant in P. erythrurus at 24 °C than in other species ⋅ temperature combinations. CONCLUSION Our study provides evidence that gut microbiota promotes thermal adaptation in both species but more evidently in P. erythrurus using colder habitats than P. przewalskii all year round, thus confirming the role of gut microbiota in cold-climate adaptation in lizards.
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