Coadaptation between host genome and microbiome under long-term xenobiotic-induced selection

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Microbiome research
• Ecotoxicology

Background:

• Understanding host-microbiome interactions is crucial for evolutionary studies.
• Xenobiotic compounds can impose selective pressures on host organisms and their associated microbes.
• Experimental evolution provides a powerful tool to investigate rapid adaptive changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate host-microbiome codiversification under xenobiotic-induced selection.
• To examine the effects of herbicide (atrazine) exposure on the parasitoid wasp *Nasonia vitripennis* and its microbiome.
• To determine if adaptive changes in the microbiome confer resistance to the host.

Main Methods:

• Experimental evolution using the parasitoid wasp *Nasonia vitripennis*.
• Exposure to sublethal concentrations of the herbicide atrazine for 85 generations.
• Microbiome transplant experiments to assess functional impacts.

Main Results:

• Atrazine exposure induced adaptive microbiome changes conferring host resistance.
• Selective pressure from atrazine affected the host genome, gene expression, and immune response.
• Microbiome transplants demonstrated functional differences between evolved and control microbiomes, impacting host survival.

Conclusions:

• Xenobiotic-induced selection drives host-microbiome coadaptation.
• This coadaptation leads to a new, stable host genome-microbiome equilibrium.
• The study highlights the reciprocal evolutionary dynamics between hosts and their microbiomes under environmental stress.