Changes in lizard gut microbial communities over gestation

The vertebrate gut contains a rich and dense microbial communities that can provide numerous benefits to hosts. Characterizing how the diversity and functions of these communities change in response to various ecological and physiological challenges is important for our understanding of beneficial host-microbe interactions, and the role of such interactions from an evolutionary perspective. One physiological challenge that results in alterations to gut microbiota is pregnancy. Studies in humans have demonstrated that gut microbial communities are restructured over the course of pregnancy, however, it is unclear whether the gut microbiome might exhibit similar changes in community structure over the reproductive cycle in other animals. Here, we investigated whether the gut microbiota of the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) changes over the course of gestation.