Effects of chronic metal exposure and metamorphosis on the microbiomes of larval and adult insects and riparian spiders through the aquatic-riparian food web

作者：Brittany G. Perrotta, Karen A. Kidd, Amy Marcarelli, Gordon Paterson, David Walters · 发表于：Environmental Pollution · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.envpol.2025.125867 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Insect Utilization and Effects、Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology、Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth

The macroinvertebrate microbiome controls various aspects of the host's physiology, from regulation of environmental contaminants to reproductive output. Aquatic insects provide critical nutritional subsidies linking aquatic and riparian food webs while simultaneously serving as a contaminant pathway for riparian insectivores in polluted ecosystems. Previous studies have characterized the transport and transfer of contaminants from aquatic to riparian ecosystems through insect metamorphosis, but both contaminant exposure and metamorphosis are energetically intensive processes that may cause host microbiomes to undergo radical transformation in structure and function, potentially affecting the host's physiology. We collected arthropods from three sites within Torch Lake, a historical copper mine in the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, USA, and three sites within a nearby reference lake. Our objectives were to: 1) characterize the variation in microbiome communities and predicted metagenomic functions with legacy copper mining activity across space, among host types and family-level host taxonomy, 2) characterize how insect metamorphosis alters the microbiome community, including the degree of endosymbiotic infection, and predicted metagenomic function. We field-collected organisms, extracted their DNA, and sequenced the 16S region of the rRNA gene to characterize microbiome communities, then predicted metagenomic function. Site, lake, and host taxonomy affected the host microbiom...