La evolución de las especies y su microbioma
Pronto lo traduciré.
There are many questions surrounding the relationship between the
functioning of our human body and the presence of the microbes that live
in and on us. The current state of knowledge does not allow us to fully
understand what impact our microbiota has on our lives. To approach
this question, it is important to find out how our gut metagenome
interacts with our own genome.
On July 18th, 2013, Science
Magazine published an interesting paper called "The Hologenomic Basis of
Speciation: Gut Bacteria Cause Hybrid Lethality in the Genus Nasonia",
authored by Brucker and Bordenstein from the Vanderbilt University. For
this study, the researchers used three species of wasps of the Nasonia genus.
Two of those species were genetically closely related while the third
had diverged earlier in evolution. It appears their relative distance in
the evolution tree also affected their relative proximity in the
composition of their respective gut microbiota.
Hybrids of
closely related species had a low rate of mortality (~8%), while those
of distant species had a significantly higher mortality rate (>90%).
Interestingly the microbiome of the survival hybrids were quite similar
to that of their parents, whereas the microbiome of the hybrids that did
not survive were completely different. The researchers then showed that
the incompatibilities that caused the death of the hybrids had a
microbial basis. The germ-free hybrids survived normally, but when given
a gut microbiota from regular hybrids, their survival rate plummeted.
As stated by the authors in the abstract of their paper, the central element to remember here is that "in
this animal complex, the gut microbiome and host genome represent a
coadapted hologenome that breaks down during hybridization, promoting
hybrid lethality and assisting speciation". Thus evolution should be seen as a process which affects species together with their gut microbiota.
You can discuss the paper and its findings with the authors on Twitter by following @Symbionticism and @liveinsymbiosis.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario
Cada vez que lees un artículo y no dejas un comentario, alguien mata a un gatito en alguna parte del mundo...