Tadpole growth rates and gut bacterial community: Dominance of developmental stages over temperature variations

Abstract

Tadpoles present an intriguing model system for studying the regulation and selection of gut microbiota. They offer a unique perspective to enhance our understanding of host-microbiota interactions, given their capacity to alter the dynamics of the gut microbial community by interacting with multiple environmental factors within a complex life cycle. In this study, we comprehensively investigated variations in growth rate and gut bacterial community in relation to temperature differences during the complex process of amphibian metamorphosis. Higher temperatures prompted tadpoles to metamorphose more rapidly than at lower temperatures, but the impact on size and weight was minimal. Differences in temperature were not associated with gut bacterial diversity, but they did affect certain aspects of beta diversity and bacterial composition. However, the developmental stage invoked greater heterogeneity than temperature in gut bacterial diversity, composition, and functional groups. These findings suggest that inherent biological systems exert stronger control over an organism’s homeostasis and variation than the external environment. Although results may vary based on the magnitude or type of environmental factors, metamorphosis in tadpoles greatly influences their biology, potentially dominating microbial interactions.