Linkage of nucleotide and functional diversity varies across gut bacteria

Abstract

Understanding the forces shaping genomic diversity within bacterial species is essential for interpreting microbiome evolution, ecology, and host associations. Here, we analyze over one hundred prevalent gut bacterial species using the Unified Human Gut Genome collection to characterize patterns of intraspecific genomic variability. Gene content divergence scales predictably with divergence in core genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), though there is substantial variability in evolutionary dynamics across species. Overall, accessory genes exhibit consistently faster linkage decay compared to core SNPs, highlighting the fluidity of functional repertoires within species boundaries. This signal is strongest for mobile genetic elements, which show minimal linkage to core genome SNPs. Together, our findings reveal species-specific recombination regimes in the gut microbiome, underscoring the importance of accounting for horizontal gene transfer and genome plasticity in microbiome-wide association studies and evolutionary models.