Bianca publishes on phylosymbiosis in Molecular Ecology

Research highlight: Phylosymbiosis in host-microbiome interactions in Molecular Ecology (Bianca Brown et al.)

Bianca Brown published a paper entitled Host phylogeny and functional traits differentiate gut microbiomes in a diverse natural community of small mammals in Molecular Ecology. This paper was the result of a major collaborative effort that benefited from Bianca's insight, creativity, and leadership. This post summarizes the paper that emerged from the Kartzinel Lab's long-term research on food webs in African savannas.

The key insight of the paper focuses on how the pattern of phylosymbiosis emerged through the combined influence of ecological and evolutionary processes working in the small mammal community at Mpala Research Centre, Kenya. The paper highlights the importance of phylogenetic scale in investigations of phylosymbiosis and underscores the value of studies that investigate how local ecological context can modify our 'global' expectations about host-microbiome associations.

Brown BRP, Goheen JR, Newsome SD, Pringle RM, Palmer TM, Khasoha LM, Kartzinel TR. 2023. Host phylogeny and functional traits differentiate gut microbiomes in a diverse natural community of small mammals. Molecular Ecology doi: 10.1111/mec.16874