Antarctic Collembola microbiome

Study of the microbiome of four endemic Antarctic Collembola (=springtails) species, belonging to two different genera (Cryptopygus and Friesea) and collected along two main Antarctic bioregions (i.e. the maritime and the continental Antarctic).Our knowledge of host-microbiome relationships of species adapted to such an extreme and pristine environment is limited, although arguably of significant interest for our understanding of Antarctic ecosystem dynamics, especially in the light of the significant environmental changes Antarctica is facing in the last decades. The two-factor sampling design used in this study allowed us to describe to which extent the Antarctic environments have influenced host-microbiome relationship. Specifically, the selection of two couple of co-generic species from two distant bioregions helped us in the quantification of the relative role of two possible major evolutionary drivers responsible for shaping Collembola microbiomes in Antarctica: i.e. the phylogenetic similarity of hosts and/or the distinct biogeographic region of origin.