The Use of Spatial Stream Network Models to Evaluate the Effects of Varying Stream Temperatures on Wild Coho Life History Expression and Survival

Abstract The study of microbiomes by sequencing has revealed a plethora of correlations between microbial community composition and various life-history characteristics of the corresponding host species. However, inferring causation from correlation is often hampered by the sheer compositional complexity of microbiomes, even in simple organisms. Synthetic communities offer an effective approach to infer cause-effect relationships in host-microbiome systems. Yet the available communities suffer from several drawbacks, such as artificial (thus non-natural) choice of microbes, microbe-host mismatch (e.g., human microbes in gnotobiotic mice), or hosts lacking genetic tractability. Here we introduce CeMbio, a simplified natural Caenorhabditis elegans microbiota derived from our previous meta-analysis of the natural microbiome of this nematode. The CeMbio resource is amenable to all strengths of the C. elegans model system, strains included are readily culturable, they all colonize the worm gut individually, and comprise a robust community that distinctly affects nematode life-history. Several tools have additionally been developed for the CeMbio strains, including diagnostic PCR primers, completely sequenced genomes, and metabolic network models. With CeMbio, we provide a versatile resource and toolbox for the in-depth dissection of naturally relevant host-microbiome interactions in C. elegans.

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Combining hydrologic simulations and stream-network models to unveil flow-ecology relationships in a large Alpine catchment

10.1002/essoar.10503867.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Stefano Larsen ◽

Bruno Majone ◽

Patrick Zulian ◽

Elisa Stella ◽

Alberto Bellin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Network Models ◽

Stream Network

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CeMbio - The C. elegans microbiome resource

10.1101/2020.04.22.055426 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Philipp Dirksen ◽

Adrien Assié ◽

Johannes Zimmermann ◽

Fan Zhang ◽

Adina-Malin Tietje ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Microbial Community Composition ◽

Network Models ◽

Pcr Primers ◽

Whole Genome Sequencing Data ◽

Sequencing Data ◽

Diagnostic Pcr ◽

C Elegans ◽

Natural Choice

ABSTRACTThe study of microbiomes by sequencing has revealed a plethora of correlations between microbial community composition and various life-history characteristics of the corresponding host species. However, inferring causation from correlation is often hampered by the sheer compositional complexity of microbiomes, even in simple organisms. Synthetic communities offer an effective approach to infer cause-effect relationships in host-microbiome systems. Yet the available communities suffer from several drawbacks, such as artificial (thus non-natural) choice of microbes, microbe-host mismatch (e.g. human microbes in gnotobiotic mice), or hosts lacking genetic tractability. Here we introduce CeMbio, a simplified natural Caenorhabditis elegans microbiota derived from our previous meta-analysis of the natural microbiome of this nematode. The CeMbio resource is amenable to all strengths of the C. elegans model system, strains included are readily culturable, they all colonize the worm gut individually, and comprise a robust community that distinctly affects nematode life-history. Several tools have additionally been developed for the CeMbio strains, including diagnostic PCR primers, completely sequenced genomes, and metabolic network models. With CeMbio, we provide a versatile resource and toolbox for the in-depth dissection of naturally relevant host-microbiome interactions in C. elegans.Dataset accession numbersWhole genome sequencing data (PRJNA624308); microbiome sequencing [PRJEB37101 and PRJEB37035]; data supplement on the GSA Figshare Portal.

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Flexibility in an emergency life-history stage: acute food deprivation prevents sickness behaviour but not the immune response

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2020.0842 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 287 (1929) ◽

pp. 20200842

Author(s):

Kathryn Wilsterman ◽

Mattina M. Alonge ◽

Darcy K. Ernst ◽

Cody Limber ◽

Lisa A. Treidel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Immune Responses ◽

Food Deprivation ◽

Life History Theory ◽

Network Models ◽

Life History Stage ◽

Sickness Behaviour ◽

Single Organism ◽

Multiple Challenges

The emergency life-history stage (ELHS) can be divided into two subcategories that describe distinct, coordinated responses to disease- or non-disease-related physiological challenges. Whether an individual can simultaneously express aspects of both subcategories when faced with multiple challenges is poorly understood. Emergency life-history theory suggests that disease- and non-disease-related responses are coordinated at the level of the whole organism and therefore cannot be expressed simultaneously. However, the reactive scope and physiological regulatory network models suggest that traits can be independently regulated, allowing for components of both disease- and non-disease-related responses to be simultaneously expressed within a single organism. To test these ideas experimentally, we subjected female zebra finches to food deprivation, an immune challenge, both, or neither, and measured a suite of behavioural and physiological traits involved in the ELHS. We examined whether the trait values expressed by birds experiencing simultaneous challenges resembled trait values of birds experiencing a single challenge or if birds could express a mixture of trait values concurrently. We find that birds can respond to simultaneous challenges by regulating components of the behavioural and immune responses independently of one another. Modularity within these physio-behavioural networks adds additional dimensions to how we evaluate the intensity or quality of an ELHS. Whether modularity provides fitness advantages or costs in nature remains to be determined.

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