Generalist vs specialist strategy shapes microbiomes in blood feeding parasite Polyplax serrata
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60077344%3A_____%2F25%3A00643354" target="_blank" >RIV/60077344:_____/25:00643354 - isvavai.cz</a>
Alternative codes found
RIV/60076658:12310/25:43910497
Result on the web
<a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1720127" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1720127</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1720127" target="_blank" >10.3389/fmicb.2025.1720127</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Generalist vs specialist strategy shapes microbiomes in blood feeding parasite Polyplax serrata
Original language description
Insects live in association with bacterial communities, collectively referred to as the microbiome. Microbiome composition varies widely across insect taxa and is shaped by multiple factors, including host phylogeny, environmental conditions, geographic distribution, and nutritional ecology. One hypothesis is that microbiome composition may also reflect whether the host adopts a generalist or specialist ecological strategy. We tested this hypothesis using the sucking louse Polyplax serrata, which offers several advantages as a model system. First, as permanent ectoparasites, lice inhabit a relatively stable and simplified environment, thereby minimizing potential confounding variables. Second, within P. serrata, two closely related lineages have been identified: one restricted to a single rodent host (Apodemus flavicollis), and the other exploiting two hosts (A. flavicollis and A. sylvaticus). We analyzed and compared microbiome structure in these two lineages using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. While alpha diversity did not differ between the lineages, beta diversity differed significantly, particularly in pairwise dissimilarities among individual samples. These results suggest that in P. serrata, host specialization strategy influences microbiome diversity, with the 'generalist' lineage harboring more heterogeneous communities. This finding extends previous observations on ecological divergence between the two lineages, showing that closely related cryptic species with highly similar genomes, living sympatrically in the same environment, can rapidly evolve distinct life strategies that, in turn, shape both their genetic structure and their microbiomes.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10613 - Zoology
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA21-02532S" target="_blank" >GA21-02532S: Relating genetic diversification and ecological traits at secondary contact: Hybrid zone and ecological speciation in a host-parasite-symbiont system</a><br>
Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Frontiers in Microbiology
ISSN
1664-302X
e-ISSN
1664-302X
Volume of the periodical
16
Issue of the periodical within the volume
NOV 2025
Country of publishing house
CH - SWITZERLAND
Number of pages
9
Pages from-to
1720127
UT code for WoS article
001631122000001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105024915493