Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a global pollutant that can bioaccumulate and biomagnify along the aquatic food chain, causing adverse outcomes in humans and wildlife. Effective biomonitoring programs are needed to identify high exposure populations and to develop proper mitigation strategies. However, biom...
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Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
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ftunivottawa:oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/41438 2023-05-15T15:12:28+02:00 Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship Guo, Galen Chan, Laurie Poulain, Alexandre 2020-11-12 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10393/41438 https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-25662 en eng Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa http://hdl.handle.net/10393/41438 http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-25662 microbiota mercury diet wildlife human seabird otter Thesis 2020 ftunivottawa https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-25662 2021-11-13T23:59:48Z Methylmercury (MeHg) is a global pollutant that can bioaccumulate and biomagnify along the aquatic food chain, causing adverse outcomes in humans and wildlife. Effective biomonitoring programs are needed to identify high exposure populations and to develop proper mitigation strategies. However, biomonitoring results showed high inter-individual variability in the relationship between MeHg exposure and body burden. Moreover, the gut microbiota can potentially play a role in MeHg transformations, and it is widely believed that the gut microbiota may be the underlying reason for the variability between and within a population. However, the microbially-mediated mechanisms of Hg transformation in the gastrointestinal environment is poorly understood. The overarching goal of my thesis is to investigate the role of gut microbiota in MeHg transformation in human, and the relationship between environmental pollutants and the gut microbiota of sentinel species such as river otters (Lontra canadensis) and seabirds (Arctic Tern [Sterna paradisaea], Black Guillemot [Cepphus grille], Common Eider [Somateria mollissima], Double-crested Cormorant [Phalacrocorax auratus], and Leach’s Storm Petrel [Oceanodroma leucorhoa]). My thesis consists of four research papers. In the first paper, I discovered that the gut microbiota`s ability to demethylate MeHg is significantly enhanced by altering the diet. In my second paper, I discovered a novel MeHg degradation pathway. In the third and fourth papers, I explored the effect of Hg and other environmental contaminant exposure on river otters and seabirds gut microbial community structures and found a relationship between prey selection and diet to the gut microbial structure. In conclusion, my thesis explores the relationship between diet, prey selection, environment contaminants and the humans and wildlife gut microbiota and contributes to understanding the gut microbiota’s role in biomonitoring of ecosystem and human health. Thesis Arctic Arctic tern Black guillemot Common Eider Human health Oceanodroma leucorhoa Somateria mollissima Sterna paradisaea Lontra uO Research (University of Ottawa - uOttawa) Arctic |
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uO Research (University of Ottawa - uOttawa) |
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ftunivottawa |
language |
English |
topic |
microbiota mercury diet wildlife human seabird otter |
spellingShingle |
microbiota mercury diet wildlife human seabird otter Guo, Galen Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship |
topic_facet |
microbiota mercury diet wildlife human seabird otter |
description |
Methylmercury (MeHg) is a global pollutant that can bioaccumulate and biomagnify along the aquatic food chain, causing adverse outcomes in humans and wildlife. Effective biomonitoring programs are needed to identify high exposure populations and to develop proper mitigation strategies. However, biomonitoring results showed high inter-individual variability in the relationship between MeHg exposure and body burden. Moreover, the gut microbiota can potentially play a role in MeHg transformations, and it is widely believed that the gut microbiota may be the underlying reason for the variability between and within a population. However, the microbially-mediated mechanisms of Hg transformation in the gastrointestinal environment is poorly understood. The overarching goal of my thesis is to investigate the role of gut microbiota in MeHg transformation in human, and the relationship between environmental pollutants and the gut microbiota of sentinel species such as river otters (Lontra canadensis) and seabirds (Arctic Tern [Sterna paradisaea], Black Guillemot [Cepphus grille], Common Eider [Somateria mollissima], Double-crested Cormorant [Phalacrocorax auratus], and Leach’s Storm Petrel [Oceanodroma leucorhoa]). My thesis consists of four research papers. In the first paper, I discovered that the gut microbiota`s ability to demethylate MeHg is significantly enhanced by altering the diet. In my second paper, I discovered a novel MeHg degradation pathway. In the third and fourth papers, I explored the effect of Hg and other environmental contaminant exposure on river otters and seabirds gut microbial community structures and found a relationship between prey selection and diet to the gut microbial structure. In conclusion, my thesis explores the relationship between diet, prey selection, environment contaminants and the humans and wildlife gut microbiota and contributes to understanding the gut microbiota’s role in biomonitoring of ecosystem and human health. |
author2 |
Chan, Laurie Poulain, Alexandre |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Guo, Galen |
author_facet |
Guo, Galen |
author_sort |
Guo, Galen |
title |
Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship |
title_short |
Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship |
title_full |
Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship |
title_fullStr |
Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship |
title_full_unstemmed |
Examination of Animal Gut Microbiota and Mercury Reveals the Importance of Diet in This Relationship |
title_sort |
examination of animal gut microbiota and mercury reveals the importance of diet in this relationship |
publisher |
Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10393/41438 https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-25662 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic tern Black guillemot Common Eider Human health Oceanodroma leucorhoa Somateria mollissima Sterna paradisaea Lontra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic tern Black guillemot Common Eider Human health Oceanodroma leucorhoa Somateria mollissima Sterna paradisaea Lontra |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10393/41438 http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-25662 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-25662 |
_version_ |
1766343132799041536 |