Evolution: bacteria's' role (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, January 08, 2020, 00:48 (1780 days ago) @ David Turell

They were at the start of life and have continued to support life as it evolved:

https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/birds-bats-and-bacteria?utm_source=Cosmos+-+Master+M...

"Their study, published in the journal mBio, has upended current thinking about microbial similarities between related species by revealing that, unlike other mammals, bats have unpredictable gut bacteria much like birds.

"This suggests that evolving to fly may have a dramatic impact on the gut microbiome, raising questions about how evolution impacts microbial communities.

"Research has established that gut microbes co-evolved with mammals – including humans – over millions of years and are intimately connected to diet and wellbeing.

"But the new study implies that mammals’ reliance on their microscopic friends may be unique, according to co-first author Se Jin Song, from the University of California San Diego.

“'This represents a paradigm shift in how we think about animals and the relationships they have with their microbes,” he says.

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“What was shocking,” he says, “was that we didn’t find that birds and bats share a similar microbiome per se, but rather that both lack a specific relationship with microbes.”

"While all mammals showed clear patterns of bacteria in closely related groups, those found in flying birds and bats were virtually unpredictable.

“'It’s almost like they’re just picking up whatever’s around them and they don’t really need their microbes to help them in ways that we do,” says co-author Holly Lutz from UC San Diego and Chicago’s Field Museum.

"Micro-organisms might, therefore, have less importance for supporting healthy digestion in bats and birds, possibly an adaptive response to taking flight.

***

"By learning more about the microbiomes of different animals, the researchers hope to understand more about our own; in this case species that don’t rely on their gut bacteria could provide unique insights.

“'If we are ever putting ourselves in some kind of extreme situation where we’re disrupting our microbiome,” says Lutz, “there is something that we can learn from animals that don’t need their microbiomes as much.'”

Comment: They were there at the start of life and have stayed around to serve other purposes in support of life in various ways. They are one type of organism which never went extinct. Why? As Shapiro noted, they have great transformative abilities, because they are free living individuals, and they can respond to groups of other bacteria for more protection by acting in concert. Looks like a good plan to me by the designer.