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Effect of host phylogeny in the taxonomic composition and assemblage of the epidermal microbiome in elasmobranchs across geographic locations
The microbial community associated with living organisms plays a crucial role in host health and survival, but its role and composition remain widely understudied, especially in elasmobranchs. Previous research suggests that the skin microbiome of elasmobranchs is distinct from the surrounding water microbial community and also host-specific, harboring a phylogenetic signal and selecting for the microbiome. We studied the epidermal microbiome taxonomic composition and diversity of fourteen elasmobranch species from different geographic locations and captivity status employing data sets acquired from the NCBI that used high throughput DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA V4 region. We hypothesized that our results would be adjusted to a phylosymbiotic pattern as previously suggested in the scientific literature. Results were consistent with previous findings with the biological samples from the elasmobranch epidermis being different than the environmental samples from seawater. Epidermal microbiomes were also species-specific, and some similarities were found in host species belonging to the same taxonomic order, suggesting a phylosymbiotic pattern with the taxonomic composition of the epidermal microbiome being driven by host phylogeny. We studied the effect of geographic location and captivity status on the microbiome taxonomic composition. Results showed that the core microbiome, composed of the highly abundant microbial taxa that perform key functions, seems to be conserved across locations and less prevalent or more transient species are influenced by location. Captivity status influenced the microbiome of Aetobatus narinari and Rhincodon typus, but further research is needed. This research sheds light on the several processes and factors that intervene in the epidermal microbiome assemblage and inheritance in elasmobranchs, highlighting the microbial taxonomic composition and diversity for each host species and its core microbiome and the processes behind their acquisition by the host, ultimately aiding in the interpretation of the symbiotic relationships and the eco-evolutionary processes that conform the elasmobranch epidermal microbiome