Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula
© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (2018): e02574-17, doi:10.1128/AEM.02574-17. The skin is the first line of defense between an animal and i...
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American Society for Microbiology
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/9582 2023-05-15T13:48:31+02:00 Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula Bierlich, Kevin C. Miller, Carolyn A. DeForce, Emelia A. Friedlaender, Ari S. Johnston, David W. Apprill, Amy 2017-12-21 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9582 en_US eng American Society for Microbiology https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02574-17 Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (2018): e02574-17 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9582 doi:10.1128/AEM.02574-17 Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (2018): e02574-17 doi:10.1128/AEM.02574-17 Article 2017 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02574-17 2022-05-28T23:00:06Z © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (2018): e02574-17, doi:10.1128/AEM.02574-17. The skin is the first line of defense between an animal and its environment, and disruptions in skin-associated microorganisms can be linked to an animal's health and nutritional state. To better understand the skin microbiome of large whales, high-throughput sequencing of partial small subunit ribosomal RNA genes was used to study the skin-associated bacteria of 89 seemingly healthy humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) sampled along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) during early (2010) and late (2013) austral summers. Six core genera of bacteria were present in 93% or more of all humpback skin samples. A shift was observed in the average relative abundance of these core genera over time, with the emergence of four additional core genera corresponding to a decrease in water temperature, possibly caused by seasonal or foraging related changes in skin biochemistry that influenced microbial growth, or other temporal-related factors. The skin microbiome differed between whales sampled at several regional locations along the WAP, suggesting that environmental factors or population may also influence the whale skin microbiome. Overall, the skin microbiome of humpback whales appears to provide insight into animal and environmental-related factors and may serve as a useful indicator for animal health or ecosystem alterations. This project was supported by 67 donors to the “Whale Bacterial Buddies” crowdfunded project supported by WHOI, the Edna Bailey Sussman Fund, and the Michael K. Orbach Enrichment Fund awarded to K. C. Bierlich. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Megaptera novaeangliae Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Austral Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 5 |
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Open Polar |
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Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
description |
© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (2018): e02574-17, doi:10.1128/AEM.02574-17. The skin is the first line of defense between an animal and its environment, and disruptions in skin-associated microorganisms can be linked to an animal's health and nutritional state. To better understand the skin microbiome of large whales, high-throughput sequencing of partial small subunit ribosomal RNA genes was used to study the skin-associated bacteria of 89 seemingly healthy humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) sampled along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) during early (2010) and late (2013) austral summers. Six core genera of bacteria were present in 93% or more of all humpback skin samples. A shift was observed in the average relative abundance of these core genera over time, with the emergence of four additional core genera corresponding to a decrease in water temperature, possibly caused by seasonal or foraging related changes in skin biochemistry that influenced microbial growth, or other temporal-related factors. The skin microbiome differed between whales sampled at several regional locations along the WAP, suggesting that environmental factors or population may also influence the whale skin microbiome. Overall, the skin microbiome of humpback whales appears to provide insight into animal and environmental-related factors and may serve as a useful indicator for animal health or ecosystem alterations. This project was supported by 67 donors to the “Whale Bacterial Buddies” crowdfunded project supported by WHOI, the Edna Bailey Sussman Fund, and the Michael K. Orbach Enrichment Fund awarded to K. C. Bierlich. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bierlich, Kevin C. Miller, Carolyn A. DeForce, Emelia A. Friedlaender, Ari S. Johnston, David W. Apprill, Amy |
spellingShingle |
Bierlich, Kevin C. Miller, Carolyn A. DeForce, Emelia A. Friedlaender, Ari S. Johnston, David W. Apprill, Amy Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula |
author_facet |
Bierlich, Kevin C. Miller, Carolyn A. DeForce, Emelia A. Friedlaender, Ari S. Johnston, David W. Apprill, Amy |
author_sort |
Bierlich, Kevin C. |
title |
Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula |
title_short |
Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full |
Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula |
title_fullStr |
Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the Western Antarctic Peninsula |
title_sort |
temporal and regional variability in the skin microbiome of humpback whales along the western antarctic peninsula |
publisher |
American Society for Microbiology |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9582 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Austral |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Austral |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (2018): e02574-17 doi:10.1128/AEM.02574-17 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02574-17 Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (2018): e02574-17 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9582 doi:10.1128/AEM.02574-17 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02574-17 |
container_title |
Applied and Environmental Microbiology |
container_volume |
84 |
container_issue |
5 |
_version_ |
1766249347621584896 |