Earthworms are widely known to impact soil health, having a key role in nutrient cycling and are often referred to as soil engineers. They are vital for soil microbial assemblages particularly through their feeding and burrowing activity in soil. Earthworms feed on soil organic matter and litter, and the resulting casts alter the soil microbial community. However, the gut microbiome of earthworms remains less known. In this study, we used amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene for bacteria and 18S rRNA gene for eukaryotes to assess the gut community assemblages of earthworm species within three genera Aporrectodea, Allolobophora and Lumbricus that represent different life forms sharing the same habitat. The objective was to compare the gut microbiome profiles of eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms to assess significance of earthworm life forms, and to explore the cross kingdom networks in an attempt to identify keystone species. We found a high eukaryotic diversity with a dominance of the SAR supergroup along with fungi and metazoan in the earthworm gut. The bacterial community were dominated by members of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Verrucomicrobia. The eukaryotic and prokaryotic communities showed similar differences in alpha diversity, being lowest in Lumbricus herculeus. The beta diversity showed earthworm species as a key factor in shaping gut microbiomes with L. herculeus harboring distinct microbiomes compared to species of Aporrectodea caliginosa, A. longa, A. tuberculata and Allolobophora chlorotica. Cross kingdom networks showed high interactions between several protist and bacterial OTUs. In conclusion, this study suggested that the community assemblages of gut microbiomes were shaped by earthworm species and life form, and such assemblage consists of cross kingdom interactions among eukaryotes and prokaryotes.

中文翻译：

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深入了解multi肠道多王国微生物群落。

widely众所周知会影响土壤健康，在养分循环中发挥关键作用，通常被称为土壤工程师。它们对于土壤微生物组合至关重要，尤其是通过它们在土壤中的进食和挖穴活动。worm以土壤有机物和垃圾为食，产生的铸渣改变了土壤微生物群落。然而，earth的肠道微生物组仍然鲜为人知。在这项研究中，我们对细菌的16S rRNA基因和真核生物的18S rRNA基因进行了扩增子测序，以评估A属，异嗜生珠和Lu虫三个属中sharing物种的肠道菌群组合，它们代表了具有相同栖息地的不同生命形式。目的是比较真核生物和原核生物的肠道微生物组特征，以评估worm生命形式的重要性，并探索跨王国的网络，以试图找出主要的物种。我们在a肠中发现了高度的真核生物多样性，其中有SAR超群以及真菌和后生动物。细菌群落主要由变形杆菌，酸性杆菌，放线菌，硬毛菌和疣状微生物菌的成员组成。真核和原核群落在α多样性上显示出相似的差异，而在Lumbricus herculeus中最低。β多样性表明，to种是塑造肠道微生物群的关键因素，而与califorosa caliginosa，A。longa，A。tuberculata和Alolobophora chlorotica菌种相比，赫拉克勒斯菌具有独特的微生物群。跨王国网络显示出几个原生OTU和细菌OTU之间的高度相互作用。结论，