Metabolite Profiling of Social Spiders (Stegodyphus dumicola) along a Climate Gradient

TY - CONF

T1 - Metabolite Profiling of Social Spiders (Stegodyphus dumicola) along a Climate Gradient

AU - Sandfeld, Tobias

AU - Wurster, Martina

AU - Malmos, Kirsten

AU - Bechsgaard, Jesper Smærup

AU - Lalk, Michael

AU - Vosegaard, Thomas

AU - Bilde, Trine

AU - Schramm, Andreas

N1 - Conference code: 17

PY - 2018/8/14

Y1 - 2018/8/14

N2 - Social spiders of the genus Stegodyphus live in colonies of hundreds of individuals, and in close association with microorganisms, that encompass bacterial endosymbionts and diverse bacteria and fungi in their nests. Social spiders are highly inbred due to a strictly inbreeding mating system resulting in extremely low genetic variation on all levels. Conventionally, inbreeding results in severe fitness loss through expression of deleterious alleles and the random loss of alleles. However, social spiders are evolutionary old, ecologically successful, and spread over multiple climate zones in nature.We hypothesize that social spiders cope with environmental challenges by producing low molecular weight metabolites; some of these metabolites may also be produced by symbiotic bacteria, thus helping their host to adapt to different environmental conditions. Irrespective the origin of the compound, they should be reflected in the spiders’ metabolite profiles. Social spiders were sampled in triplicates from three populations along a climate gradient in Namibia, Southern Africa. Whole animals were extracted with methanol and water, and the lyophilized extracts were analyzed by GC-MS and 1H-NMR. Metabolite profiles were highly reproducible within each population, while they showed remarkable differences between the three populations; one possible reason may be adaptation of the spider-microbe system to the local climate. To test this hypothesis, we are currently performing a controlled lab experiment assessing temperature tolerance and potential for adaptation of the three field populations along with their microbiome and metabolite profile.

AB - Social spiders of the genus Stegodyphus live in colonies of hundreds of individuals, and in close association with microorganisms, that encompass bacterial endosymbionts and diverse bacteria and fungi in their nests. Social spiders are highly inbred due to a strictly inbreeding mating system resulting in extremely low genetic variation on all levels. Conventionally, inbreeding results in severe fitness loss through expression of deleterious alleles and the random loss of alleles. However, social spiders are evolutionary old, ecologically successful, and spread over multiple climate zones in nature.We hypothesize that social spiders cope with environmental challenges by producing low molecular weight metabolites; some of these metabolites may also be produced by symbiotic bacteria, thus helping their host to adapt to different environmental conditions. Irrespective the origin of the compound, they should be reflected in the spiders’ metabolite profiles. Social spiders were sampled in triplicates from three populations along a climate gradient in Namibia, Southern Africa. Whole animals were extracted with methanol and water, and the lyophilized extracts were analyzed by GC-MS and 1H-NMR. Metabolite profiles were highly reproducible within each population, while they showed remarkable differences between the three populations; one possible reason may be adaptation of the spider-microbe system to the local climate. To test this hypothesis, we are currently performing a controlled lab experiment assessing temperature tolerance and potential for adaptation of the three field populations along with their microbiome and metabolite profile.

KW - Metabolomics

KW - Temperature adaptation

KW - Host-microbe symbiosis

M3 - Poster

T2 - 17th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology

Y2 - 12 August 2018 through 17 August 2018

ER -