The human gut microbiome is an important component that defines host health. Childhood is a particularly important period for the establishment and development of gut microbiota (GM). We sequenced the 16S rRNA gene from fecal samples of children between 5 and 10 years old, in two Mexican communities with contrasting lifestyles, i.e., “Westernized” (México City, n = 13) and “non-Westernized” (Me’phaa indigenous group, n = 29), in order to characterize and compare their GM. The main differences between these two communities were in bacteria associated with different types of diets (high animal protein and refined sugars vs. high fiber food, respectively). In addition, the GM of Me’phaa children showed higher total diversity and the presence of exclusive phyla, such as Deinococcus-Thermus, Chloroflexi, Elusimicrobia, Acidobacteria, and Fibrobacteres. In contrast, the children from México City showed less diversity and the presence of Saccharibacteria phylum, which was associated with the degradation of sugar compounds and was not present in the samples from Me’phaa children. This comparison provided further knowledge of the selective pressures affecting microbial ecosystemic composition over the course of human evolution and the potential consequences of pathophysiological states correlated with Westernization lifestyles.

In this study we analyzed the microbiota composition of fecal samples from the lesser-long nosed bat Leptonycteris yerbabuenae in different reproductive stages (juveniles and adult bats of both sexes as well as pregnant and lactating females). The V4 region of the 16s rRNA gene from 33 individuals was analyzed using alpha and beta diversity metrics. We found that microbiota diversity (expressed in Amplicon Sequence Variants) is higher in pregnant and lactating females. The microbiota of the juveniles and non-reproductive adults was dominated by Gammaproteobacteria and Firmicutes. Reproductive females had a much more diverse microbiota, with a significant increase in phyla such as Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria. There was no difference in fecal microbiota diversity between pregnant and lactating females and juveniles and non-reproductive adults. Results suggest that differences in microbiota diversity are related to reproduction. We infer that males maintain stable microbiota composition because they do not undergo the large physiological changes that females do during reproduction and maintain a more specialized diet throughout all life stages.

Bacteria and other types of microbes interact with their hosts in several ways, including metabolic pathways, development, and complex behavioral processes such as mate recognition. During the mating season, adult males of the lesser long-nosed agave pollinator bat Leptonycteris yerbabuenae (Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) develop a structure called the dorsal patch, which is located in the interscapular region and may play a role in kin recognition and mate selection. Using high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene, we identified a total of 2,847 microbial phylotypes in the dorsal patches of eleven specimens. Twenty-six phylotypes were shared among all the patches, accounting for 30 to 75% of their relative abundance. These shared bacteria are distributed among 13 families, 10 orders, 6 classes and 3 phyla. Two of these common bacterial components of the dorsal patch are Lactococcus and Streptococcus. Some of them—Helcococcus, Aggregatibacter, Enterococcus, and Corynebacteriaceae—include bacteria with pathogenic potential. Half of the shared phylotypes belong to Gallicola, Anaerococcus, Peptoniphilus, Proteus, Staphylococcus, Clostridium, and Peptostreptococcus and specialize in fatty acid production through fermentative processes. This work lays the basis for future symbiotic microbe studies focused on communication and reproduction strategies in wildlife.

In this paper, we explore how two discrete and geographically separated populations of the lesser long‐nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae)—one in central and the other in the Pacific region of Mexico—differ in their fecal microbiota composition. Considering the microbiota–host as a unity, in which extrinsic (as food availability and geography) or intrinsic factors (as physiology) play an important role in the microbiota composition, we would expect differentiation in the microbiota of two geographically separated populations. The Amplicon Sequences Variants (ASVs) of the V4 region of the 16s rRNA gene from 68 individuals were analyzed using alpha and beta diversity metrics. We obtained a total of 11 566 (ASVs). The bacterial communities in the Central and Pacific populations had a diversity of 6,939 and 4,088 ASVs, respectively, sharing a core microbiota of 539 ASVs accounting for 75% of the relative abundance, suggesting stability over evolutionary time. The Weighted UniFrac metrics tested by a PERMANOVA showed that lactating and pregnant females had significant beta diversity differences in the two populations compared with other reproductive stages. This could be a consequence of the increased energy requirements of these physiological stages, more than the variation due to geographical separation. In contrast, a positive correlation of the observed ASVs of fecal microbiota with the observed ASVs of plastids related to the diet was observed in the juveniles and adults, suggesting that in these physiological stages an extrinsic factor as the diet shapes the microbiota composition. The results provide a baseline for future studies of the microbiome in these two wild populations of the lesser long‐nosed bat, the main pollinator of the Agaves from which the beverages tequila and mezcal are made.

The Human Gut Microbiome is an important host’s component defining its health. These microorganisms are mutualistic symbionts dependent on factors such as host’s age, subsistence models and sociocultural practices, among others. The conjunction of these factors define the microbial ecosystem dynamics. Using a fecal microbiome approach in children, a comparison of two Mexican communities with contrasting lifestyles: “westernized” (Mexico City) and “non-westernized” (Me’phaa indigenous group) was evaluated. The main differences between these two communities are in bacteria associated with different types of diets (high animal protein and refined sugars vs high fiber food, respectively). In addition, the gut microbiome of Me’phaa children showed higher total diversity and the presence of exclusive phyla, such as Deinococcus-Thermus, Chloroflexi, Elusimicrobia, Acidobacteria and Fibrobacteres. In contrast, Mexico City children had less diversity and the exclusive presence of Saccharibacteria phylum which is associated with the degradation of sugar compounds. This comparison allows further exploration of the selective pressures affecting microbial ecosystemic composition over the course of human evolution and the potential consequences of pathophysiological states correlated with westernization lifestyles.