Data from: Host effects on microbiota community assembly

1. To what extent host-associated microbiota assembly is driven by host selection or simply by happenstance remains an open question in microbiome research. 2. Here, we take a first step towards elucidating the relative importance of host selection on the establishing gut microbial community in an ecologically relevant organism. 3. We presented germ-free bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, workers from ten colonies with a “global” microbial species pool comprised of an equal mixture of the gut microbiota of all colonies. 4. By means of 16S amplicon sequencing, we found that while overall microbiota community composition was generally shifted between pool-exposed workers compared to workers that naturally acquired their gut microbiota, but that the specific composition of the established microbiota also depended on colony identity (e.g. genetic background). 5. Because the microbiota is protective against parasite infection in this system, variation in the filtering of a beneficial microbial community can have important consequences for host resistance and eventual co-evolution with parasites.1. 在微生物组（microbiome）研究领域，宿主相关微生物群（microbiota）的组装过程在多大程度上由宿主选择驱动，又或是仅由随机因素主导，仍是一个尚未厘清的开放性问题。 2. 本研究针对一种具有生态相关性的生物体，首次尝试阐明宿主选择对其肠道微生物群落构建的相对重要性。 3. 我们将来自10个蜂群的无菌（germ-free）地熊蜂（Bombus terrestris）工蜂暴露于由所有蜂群肠道微生物群等量混合而成的“全局”微生物物种库中。 4. 通过16S扩增子测序（16S amplicon sequencing），我们发现：与自然获取肠道微生物群的工蜂相比，暴露于全局微生物库的工蜂，其整体微生物群落组成通常会发生偏移；同时，已定植的微生物群的具体组成也取决于蜂群的身份（例如遗传背景）。 5. 由于该系统中的微生物群可帮助宿主抵御寄生虫感染，因此宿主对有益微生物群落的筛选过程存在差异，会对宿主的抗寄生虫能力以及最终与寄生虫的协同进化产生重要影响。