Meeting Abstract
Vertebrate hosts maintain complex associations with a diverse community of microbes living in their guts. Our understanding of the ecology of these associations is extremely limited in reptiles. Here, we conducted an in-depth study into the microbial ecology of gut communities in three syntopic lizard species in the Southern Andes of Argentina (two omnivorous species: Liolaemus parvus and L. ruibali, and an herbivorous species: Phymaturus williamsi). All three species are viviparous (live-bearing). We used 16S rRNA sequencing to inventory the microbial communities of the lizard gut and many other sources (plant material in nature, diets in captivity, etc.). We found that in nature, a considerable portion of the fecal communities of lizards (25-50%) overlapped with microbiota found on plant material, and little overlap with soil or invertebrate microbiota (< 4%). Captivity significantly altered the gut microbial community structure of lizards, though species retained distinct microbial signatures. Microbial communities differed significantly across gut regions (stomach, small intestine, hindgut, and feces), though fecal communities were found to be accurate representations of the hindgut communities. Lizards that were born in captivity and separated from their mothers within 24 hours harbored communities that were distinct from their mothers’, lacked a host species-specific signature, and were more similar to the microbiota in their food. Our results enhance our understanding the microbial ecology of gut communities in lizards, but also have implications for conservation, especially captive breeding.
