The gut microbiome as a mechanism underlying predator foraging behaviour and predator-prey interactions
Main funder
Funder's project number: 355869
Funds granted by main funder (€)
- 622 632,00
Funding program
Project timetable
Project start date: 01/01/2024
Project end date: 31/12/2027
Summary
Aposematism is a widespread antipredator defence where prey advertise their chemical defence with warning signals. Previous work has demonstrated high within-species variation in how quickly predators learn to avoid aposematic prey, and this heterogeneity is suggested to play an important role in the evolution of prey defences. This project aims to investigate what maintains the observed variation in predator behaviour by focusing on an unexplored mechanism: a predator’s gut microbiome. Evidence from humans and laboratory animals shows that gut microbiome can influence learning, memory and foraging choices (the microbiome-gut-brain axis), and theoretical models predict feedback loops between gut microbiome, diet and host behaviour. My project aims to translate this to an ecologically relevant context by asking 1) whether predators’ current or early-life gut microbiomes are associated with avoidance learning, memory and dietary wariness, and 2) whether consuming chemically defended prey alters predators’ gut microbiome and foraging behaviour. To test these questions, I will use wild-caught great tits (Parus major) as predators. I will i) manipulate birds’ gut microbiome with chemically defended prey, specific prey toxins, or antibiotics, ii) collect faecal samples for 16s rRNA sequencing to analyse gut microbial compositions and iii) conduct dietary wariness, avoidance learning and memory tests with novel prey items. The results will increase our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying variation in predator behaviour, and will bring a new perspective to the well-studied field of predator-prey coevolution. Furthermore, the project will advance our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of microbiomes for species dynamics.
