Data from: The microbiota of diapause: how host-microbe associations are formed after dormancy in an aquatic crustacean

1. A critical question in symbiosis research is where and how organisms
obtain beneficial microbial symbionts in different ecological contexts.
Microbiota of juveniles are often derived directly from their mother or
from the immediate environment. The origin of beneficial symbionts,
however, is less obvious in organisms with diapause and dispersal stages,
such as plants with dormant seeds and animals in ephemeral or strongly
seasonal habitats. In these cases, parents and offspring are separated in
time and space, which may affect opportunities for both vertical and
horizontal transmission of symbionts. 2. The planktonic crustacean Daphnia
produces long-lasting resting eggs to endure winter freezing and summer
droughts and requires microbiota for growth and reproduction. It is
unknown how hatchlings from resting stages form associations with
microbial consorts after diapause. 3. Using natural samples of D. magna
resting eggs after several years of storage, we show that the total
bacterial community derived from both the exterior and interior of the
eggs’ ephippial cases is sufficiently beneficial to ensure normal Daphnia
functioning in otherwise bacteria-free conditions. We do not find direct
evidence that the required bacteria are of maternal origin, though
sequencing reveals that the resting stage is accompanied by bacterial taxa
previously found in association with adult animals. 4. These findings
suggest that while Daphnia are strongly dependent on environmental
bacteria for normal functioning, host-bacteria associations are somewhat
general and availability of specific bacteria is not a strong constraint
on host ecology. Nevertheless, animals and microbes may be ecologically
linked through co-dispersal.