Physical principles of the evolution and adaptation of microbial communities

肠道微生物组的变异与哺乳动物的多种特征有关，从行为和神经典型特征到免疫力、抗病能力和代谢。也有越来越多的证据表明，至少有一些机制是因果关系，由肠道微生物群的变异或变异的变化引起的健康状况不佳。肠道微生物组的变异在很大程度上受环境因素，特别是社会环境和饮食的影响。食物来源、营养成分和营养质量的变化，特别是在生命早期，可能在鸟类中发挥更大的作用，在鸟类中，从蛋中孵化出来的小鸡没有母体的微生物群。因此，我们可以预测在猎物可得性的时间波动期间出生的鸟类后代肠道微生物组的变化。最近，季节性食物供应的变化对于自身和猎物物候不匹配的生物体来说变得更加明显。气候变化可能导致物候变化，特别是在温带地区。然而，这可能意味着如果猎物的物候不遵循相同的进展，动物需要依赖不同的食物来源，这可能会导致潜在的更多样化的食物，从而导致不同的肠道微生物群。由于早期生命的肠道微生物群可能决定了成年肠道微生物群，因此繁殖时间的不匹配可能会通过肠道微生物群的变化及其后果产生持久的后果。然而，我们对微生物群在鸟类中的作用知之甚少。虽然我们已经表明，早期生活环境起着重要作用，而遗传亲缘关系的作用相对较小，但对野生种群的研究仍然很少。在这个项目中，我们将测试以下假设：(a)早期饮食的差异会影响早期生活和成年鸟类的微生物组，(b)鸟类微生物组会随着繁殖时间的变化而变化，以及(c)这会导致长期的健康后果。我们将用一种实验方法在野生种群和鸟类中进行测试。

Variation in the gut microbiome is associated with multiple traits in mammals, ranging from behavioural and neurotypical traits to immunity, disease resistance and metabolism. There is also growing evidence that at least some mechanisms are causal, with poor health conditions caused by variation, or changes in the variation, of the gut microbiome. Gutmicrobiome variation is largely shaped by environmental factors, in particular social environment, and diet. Variation in food source, nutrient composition and nutrient quality, particularly in early life are likely to play a larger role in birds, where chicks hatching from eggs are not primed with the microbiome of their mother. Thus, we can predict variation inthe gut microbiome of avian offspring born during periods of temporal fluctuation in prey availability.Recently, changes in seasonal food availability have become more pronounced for organisms that experience a mismatch between own and prey phenology. Climate change can lead to advancing phenologies, in particular in temperate regions. However, this can mean animals need to rely on different food sources if phenology of prey does not follow the same advance, which might lead to potentially more diverse food items, and thus different gut microbiomes. As the early life gut microbiome likely determines the adult gut microbiome, a mismatch in the timing of breeding can have lasting consequences through variation in the gut microbiome, and consequences thereof.However, not much is known about the role of the microbiome in birds. While we have shown that the early life environment plays an important role contrasting a relatively small role of genetic relatedness, studies on wild population remain rare.In this project we will test the hypotheses that (a) differences in early life diet affect early life, and adult avian microbiome, that (b) the avian microbiome will vary with timing of breeding, and that (c) this can lead to long-lasting fitness consequences. We will test this using an experimental approach in a wild population and in aviary birds.