ANDIV4: Elevational effects on insect-associated microbiomes

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Elevational gradients have been mostly investigated for plant and animal communities, yet the assembly rules still remain mostly unclear. Different hypotheses have been proposed, and the associated ANDIV1–3 projects aim to investigate elevational diversity and turnover patterns and with that to understand general, but also taxon-specific drivers of insect richness. The microbial world however has received much less attention with respect to elevational gradients. Particularly, the impact on host-associated taxa with their microbes has so far not been systematically investigated along elevational gradients. With the ANDIV4 project, we thus aim to investigate the microbiota associated with the host taxa of ANDIV1–3, covering the major insect groups of Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera. The goal of this project is to identify elevational effects on the composition and diversity of insect-associated bacterial gut microbiomes, as well as to analyse genomes to describe relevant mechanisms responsible for elevational restrictions and impacts on functions for the host. We will combine cultivation-independent screening methods through meta-barcoding and bioassays experiments coupled with genomics to verify and experimentally proof restrictions according to the observed distributions of hosts and microbes. Further we will investigate genomic gains and losses of microbial functions for insect hosts. Together with the other ANDIV projects, this study will contribute to our understanding of the drivers of insects and microbiome biodiversity and function along elevational gradients.