Exchange of microbes with external environment enhances the
resistibility of microbial community in fish gut during drought
Abstract
Drought can profoundly alter freshwater ecosystems. Although the impacts
of drought on freshwater fish have received increasing attention, our
understanding of the response of fish gut microbes to drought event
remains limited. We combined approaches focusing on community assembly
processes and microbial core network to investigate the dynamic
interactions between fish gut microbes and external environment during
drought and recovery periods, and assessed the resistibility of fish gut
microbes at different periods. We found that drought would decrease the
diversity of fish gut microbes and affect the composition and function
of microbial communities in fish gut. The exchange of microbes in fish
gut and external environment compensated for the decline of gut
microbial resistibility during drought. In addition, the effects of
drought on fish propagated through trophic cascades. The compensation
mechanism of fish gut microbes during drought reflects the adaptability
of fish to different environments. Our study highlights the dynamic
interactions between microbes in fish gut and external environment, and
provides a new perspective for understanding the adaptability of fish to
extreme environments.