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Not all animals need a microbiome.

Tobin J Hammer1, Jon G Sanders2, Noah Fierer3,4

  • 1Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 2506 Speedway, NMS 4.216, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

FEMS Microbiology Letters
|May 28, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Not all animals depend on a microbiome; some are microbiome-free. This study proposes animals exist on a continuum of microbial reliance, challenging the assumption of universal symbiont dependence.

Keywords:
16S rRNA geneendosymbiontgut bacteriaholobiontmicrobiotasymbiosis

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • The assumption that all animals host and depend on a microbiome is widespread but only verified for a fraction of species.
  • Animals may exhibit varying degrees of reliance on microbial symbionts, ranging from complete dependence to independence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a continuum model for animal reliance on microbial symbionts.
  • To investigate the existence and implications of microbiome-free animal lineages.
  • To address challenges in microbiome research and suggest new methodologies.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual framework development.
  • Review of existing evidence for microbiome-free animal lineages.
  • Discussion of methodological limitations in DNA sequencing for microbiome studies.

Main Results:

  • Animals likely span a continuum of reliance on microbial symbionts.
  • Evidence suggests the existence of microbiome-free animal lineages across diverse phylogenetic branches.
  • Potential for misidentification of contaminants, transients, or parasites as beneficial symbionts exists.

Conclusions:

  • The universal dependence of animals on microbiomes is not universally true.
  • Further research on microbiome-free taxa is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of host-microbe interactions.
  • Developing improved methods for microbiome exploration is necessary.