Meeting Abstract
The gut microbiome is a community of microbes living within the intestine of a host organism. These microorganisms play important roles in host physiology, metabolism and behavior, yet their community is also sensitive to abiotic, biotic, and social factors in host environments. We use the strong social hierarchies among male Astatotilapia burtoni cichlid fish to observe the microbiome response to stressful changes in social rank. Building on previous work in the Renn lab that demonstrated increased beneficial microbes in dominant animals, increased pathogenic microbes in subordinate animals, and an intermediate composition in animals that transitioned in social rank, we present a protocol in which the experimental animals are known to have maintained constant dominant or subordinate ranks prior to the experiment. We increase the sampling frequency to a weekly measure to observe the dynamics of the gut microbiome as animals transition in social rank. We use fecal samples as a non-invasive and repeatable measure of gut microbiome, to allow for tracking this transition over four weeks. Samples were processed for 16S sequencing and analyzed for operational taxonomic units (OTUs), indicating the diversity and distribution of microbial species in an individual. Results will show different OTUs in different experimental fish, according to alpha- and beta-diversity and specific microbial taxa. Furthermore, we can better describe and explain the expected time lag in changes to the microbiome following disruptions in social hierarchies due to controlling for the long term social status of each individual. This link between an organism’s microbiome community and highly stressful changes in the organism’s environment provides another avenue to explore the possibilities of multi-directional effects between behavior, environment, and physiology and metabolism linked to the gut microbiome community.
