Fig. 2: Host and microbiome can jointly determine nematode fitness in the novel compost environment.

Results of common garden experiments, in which population growth was measured for C. elegans populations isolated from mesocosms at day 100 (final) and initial worms (initial) in the presence of mesocosm day-100 microbiomes (final) or the initial microbiomes including the CeMbio43 bacterial community (initial). Population growth is shown as offspring per worm added at the beginning of the experiment. A Population growth of six mesocosm lines (Boxes 1–6) and one initial worm population, measured under compost conditions. Colors indicate different mesocosm microbiomes and the initial microbiomes (gray); symbols indicate worm populations from the different mesocosm boxes and the initial worm population. The combinations of worms and microbes are represented by a combination of a color and symbol of the data points. n = 1. B Population growth under compost conditions of final Box 1 (red boxes), final Box 2 (blue boxes), and initial worm populations (white boxes) in the presence of final Box 1 (red dots) or final Box 2 (blue dots) microbiomes or initial microbiomes (gray dots). n = 5. C Population growth on agar plates of final Box 1 (red boxes), final Box 2 (blue boxes), and initial worms (white boxes) with final Box 1 (red dots), final Box 2 (blue dots) or initial microbiomes (gray dots). Results are summarized as boxplots with the median as a thick horizontal line, the interquartile range as box, the whiskers as vertical lines, and each replicate depicted by a dot or symbol. Significant differences are indicated with different letters. n = 5. Note that the replicates for initial worms with the initial microbiome were used for both, the Box 1 and Box 2 treatments in 2B and 2C.