Evidences that host genetic background more than the environment shapes
the microbiota of the snail Bulinus truncatus, an intermediate host of
Schistosoma species.
Abstract
Microbiota are increasingly recognized as key players in regulating host
biological functions, influencing both the ecology and evolution of
organisms. However, the factors shaping microbiota diversity and
structure in natural environments remain underexplored, especially the
relative importance of host genetics versus environmental factors. In
this study, we address this gap using the freshwater snail Bulinus
truncatus, an intermediate host for some human and animal Schistosoma
parasites, as a model species. We developed 31 new microsatellite
markers to assess the population structure of B. truncatus across 9
sites in Senegal. We then applied metabarcoding to characterize the
diversity and structure of individual snail bacterial microbiota and
environmental communities associated with each sampling site using
environmental DNA. We also used molecular diagnostics to determine
trematode infection status of B. truncatus individuals. By integrating
these data through multiple regression on distance matrices (MRM)
analyses, we quantified the influence of B. truncatus population
genetics, spatial distribution, environmental bacterial communities, and
infection status on the snail’s microbiota structure. Our results show
that the genetic structure of B. truncatus populations, and to a lower
extent geographic distribution, are the main factors explaining the
snail’s microbiota compositions. Neither the environmental bacterial
communities nor trematode infection status significantly contributed to
microbiota structure. A portion of the variance in microbiota
composition remains unexplained, suggesting that additional ecological
or intrinsic factors might be involved. These findings provide new
insights into the drivers of microbiota structure in natural populations
and highlight the complexity of host-microbiota-environment
interactions.