Lab to field transition effects on bank vole gut microbiota

We examined context-specific effects of evolved high aerobic capacity of mammalian host on gut microbiota. To evaluate the effects of both evolved host metabolism and environmental context in shaping the gut microbiota, we combined artificial selection for fast metabolism with a lab-to-field translocation study. Lines of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) selected for high aerobic capacity (A) or from unselected control (C) lines were released into large outdoor enclosures and monitored via repeated capturing and fecal sampling. We quantified the effects of selection on microbiota using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing for (1) longitudinal changes in the gut microbiota of adult voles, and (2) microbiota of field-reared offspring born during the experiment.