Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores
Mammals host gut microbiomes of immense physiological consequence, but the determinants of diversity in these communities remain poorly understood. Diet appears to be the dominant factor, but host phylogeny also seems to be an important, if unpredictable, correlate. Here we show that baleen whales,...
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ftharvardudash:oai:dash.harvard.edu:1/23474107 2023-05-15T15:36:55+02:00 Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores Sanders, Jon G. Beichman, Annabel C. Roman, Joe Scott, Jarrod J. Emerson, David McCarthy, James J. Girguis, Peter R. 2015 application/pdf http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:23474107 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 en_US eng Nature Pub. Group doi:10.1038/ncomms9285 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595633/pdf/ Nature Communications Sanders, Jon G., Annabel C. Beichman, Joe Roman, Jarrod J. Scott, David Emerson, James J. McCarthy, and Peter R. Girguis. 2015. “Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores.” Nature Communications 6 (1): 8285. doi:10.1038/ncomms9285. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285. 2041-1723 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:23474107 Journal Article 2015 ftharvardudash https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 2022-04-05T18:27:32Z Mammals host gut microbiomes of immense physiological consequence, but the determinants of diversity in these communities remain poorly understood. Diet appears to be the dominant factor, but host phylogeny also seems to be an important, if unpredictable, correlate. Here we show that baleen whales, which prey on animals (fish and crustaceans), harbor unique gut microbiomes with surprising parallels in functional capacity and higher level taxonomy to those of terrestrial herbivores. These similarities likely reflect a shared role for fermentative metabolisms despite a shift in primary carbon sources from plant-derived to animal-derived polysaccharides, such as chitin. In contrast, protein catabolism and essential amino acid synthesis pathways in baleen whale microbiomes more closely resemble those of terrestrial carnivores. Our results demonstrate that functional attributes of the microbiome can vary independently even given an animal-derived diet, illustrating how diet and evolutionary history combine to shape microbial diversity in the mammalian gut. Version of Record Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whale baleen whales Harvard University: DASH - Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard Nature Communications 6 1 |
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Harvard University: DASH - Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard |
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English |
description |
Mammals host gut microbiomes of immense physiological consequence, but the determinants of diversity in these communities remain poorly understood. Diet appears to be the dominant factor, but host phylogeny also seems to be an important, if unpredictable, correlate. Here we show that baleen whales, which prey on animals (fish and crustaceans), harbor unique gut microbiomes with surprising parallels in functional capacity and higher level taxonomy to those of terrestrial herbivores. These similarities likely reflect a shared role for fermentative metabolisms despite a shift in primary carbon sources from plant-derived to animal-derived polysaccharides, such as chitin. In contrast, protein catabolism and essential amino acid synthesis pathways in baleen whale microbiomes more closely resemble those of terrestrial carnivores. Our results demonstrate that functional attributes of the microbiome can vary independently even given an animal-derived diet, illustrating how diet and evolutionary history combine to shape microbial diversity in the mammalian gut. Version of Record |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sanders, Jon G. Beichman, Annabel C. Roman, Joe Scott, Jarrod J. Emerson, David McCarthy, James J. Girguis, Peter R. |
spellingShingle |
Sanders, Jon G. Beichman, Annabel C. Roman, Joe Scott, Jarrod J. Emerson, David McCarthy, James J. Girguis, Peter R. Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |
author_facet |
Sanders, Jon G. Beichman, Annabel C. Roman, Joe Scott, Jarrod J. Emerson, David McCarthy, James J. Girguis, Peter R. |
author_sort |
Sanders, Jon G. |
title |
Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |
title_short |
Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |
title_full |
Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |
title_fullStr |
Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |
title_full_unstemmed |
Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |
title_sort |
baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores |
publisher |
Nature Pub. Group |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:23474107 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 |
genre |
baleen whale baleen whales |
genre_facet |
baleen whale baleen whales |
op_relation |
doi:10.1038/ncomms9285 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595633/pdf/ Nature Communications Sanders, Jon G., Annabel C. Beichman, Joe Roman, Jarrod J. Scott, David Emerson, James J. McCarthy, and Peter R. Girguis. 2015. “Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores.” Nature Communications 6 (1): 8285. doi:10.1038/ncomms9285. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285. 2041-1723 http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:23474107 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
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6 |
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1 |
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1766367351461117952 |