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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ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1218871 2023-07-30T04:02:32+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. 2023-06-26 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1218871 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1218871 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1218871 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1218871 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 doi:10.1038/ncomms9285 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2023 ftosti https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 2023-07-11T09:03:14Z 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. Other/Unknown Material baleen whale baleen whales SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Nature Communications 6 1 |
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SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 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 |
topic_facet |
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES |
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. |
author |
Sanders, Jon G. Beichman, Annabel C. Roman, Joe Scott, Jarrod J. Emerson, David McCarthy, James J. Girguis, Peter R. |
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 |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1218871 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1218871 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 |
genre |
baleen whale baleen whales |
genre_facet |
baleen whale baleen whales |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1218871 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1218871 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 doi:10.1038/ncomms9285 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9285 |
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Nature Communications |
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6 |
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1 |
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1772813343012159488 |