EN
A number of novel, invertebrate systems have emerged as excellent
models for the study of microbiomes. Due to their small size, evolutionary
diversity, ease of culture, and – in many cases – relatively simple gut
communities, invertebrates of many different orders can be tools to drive
hypothesis-driven microbiome research. In this review we highlight several
host systems amenable to microbiota analyses and specific questions
that can be easily addressed in those systems. These questions address
functional equivalence across similar habitats, host-specificity and
coevolution of host-microbe interactions, and acquisition and transmission
dynamics of host-associated communities. We propose that host systems
be chosen based on the question of interest, and that insect systems are
excellent tools for the vast behavioral, ecological, and genetic diversity that
allows them to address a variety of these questions.