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Do Vertebrate Gut Metagenomes Confer Rapid Ecological Adaptation?
- Source :
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 31:689-699
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2016.
-
Abstract
- During times of rapid environmental change, survival of most vertebrate populations depends on their phenomic plasticity. Although differential gene-expression and post-transcriptional processes of the host genome receive focus as the main molecular mechanisms, growing evidence points to the gut microbiota as a key driver defining hosts' phenotypes. We propose that the plasticity of the gut microbiota might be an essential factor determining phenomic plasticity of vertebrates, and that it might play a pivotal role when vertebrates acclimate and adapt to fast environmental variation. We contemplate some key questions and suggest methodological approaches and experimental designs that can be used to evaluate whether gut microorganisms provide a boost of plasticity to vertebrates' phenomes, thereby increasing their acclimation and adaptation capacity.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
Host genome
Ecology
Environmental change
biology
Acclimatization
Ecology (disciplines)
Vertebrate
Gut flora
biology.organism_classification
Adaptation, Physiological
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Phenotype
03 medical and health sciences
030104 developmental biology
Metagenomics
biology.animal
Vertebrates
Animals
Metagenome
Adaptation
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 01695347
- Volume :
- 31
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....93c98ce8cdd4a589d99d1899de5f39c7