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Kaczvinsky C, Levy H, Preston S, Youngflesh C, Clucas G, Lynch HJ, Hart T, Smith AL. The influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the bacterial microbiome of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) in their natural environment. Sci Rep 2024; 14:17933. [PMID: 39095393 PMCID: PMC11297207 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66460-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024] Open
Abstract
The microbiome is a key factor in the health, well-being, and success of vertebrates, contributing to the adaptive capacity of the host. However, the impact of geographic and biotic factors that may affect the microbiome of wild birds in polar environments is not well defined. To address this, we determined the bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequence profiles in faecal samples from pygoscelid penguin populations in the Scotia Arc, focusing on gentoo penguins. This mesopredatory group breeds in defined colonies across a wide geographic range. Since diet could influence microbiome structure, we extracted dietary profiles from a eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene sequence profile. The bacterial microbiome profiles were considered in the context of a diverse set of environmental and ecological measures. Integrating wide geographic sampling with bacterial 16S and eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene sequencing of over 350 faecal samples identified associations between the microbiome profile and a suite of geographic and ecological factors. Microbiome profiles differed according to host species, colony identity, distance between colonies, and diet. Interestingly there was also a relationship between the proportion of host DNA (in relation to total 18S rRNA gene signal) and the microbiome, which may reflect gut passage time. Colony identity provided the strongest association with differences in microbiome profiles indicating that local factors play a key role in the microbiome structure of these polar seabirds. This may reflect the influence of local transfer of microbes either via faecal-oral routes, during chick feeding or other close contact events. Other factors including diet and host species also associate with variation in microbiome profile, and in at least some locations, the microbiome composition varies considerably between individuals. Given the variation in penguin microbiomes associated with diverse factors there is potential for disruption of microbiome associations at a local scale that could influence host health, productivity, and immunological competence. The microbiome represents a sensitive indicator of changing conditions, and the implications of any changes need to be considered in the wider context of environmental change and other stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chloe Kaczvinsky
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Hila Levy
- Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, 1650 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, 20504, USA
| | - Stephen Preston
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
- UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AX, UK
| | - Casey Youngflesh
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA
| | - Gemma Clucas
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA
| | - Heather J Lynch
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
- Institute for Advanced Computational Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Tom Hart
- Oxford Brookes University, Gypsy Lane, Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
| | - Adrian L Smith
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
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Ochoa-Sánchez M, Acuña-Gómez EP, Moraga CA, Gaete K, Acevedo J, Eguiarte LE, Souza V. The ephemeral microbiota: Ecological context and environmental variability drive the body surface microbiota composition of Magellanic penguins across subantarctic breeding colonies. Mol Ecol 2024:e17472. [PMID: 39077982 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024]
Abstract
Environmental microbes routinely colonize wildlife body surface microbiota. However, animals experience dynamic environmental shifts throughout their daily routine. Yet, the effect of ecological shifts in wildlife body surface microbiota has been poorly explored. Here, we sequenced the hypervariable region V3-V4 of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize the body surface microbiota of wild Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) under two ecological contexts: (1) Penguins walking along the coast and (2) Penguins sheltered underground in their nest, across three subantarctic breeding colonies in the Magellan Strait, Chile. Despite ecological contexts, our results revealed that Moraxellaceae bacteria were the most predominant and abundant taxa associated with penguin body surfaces. Nevertheless, we detected colony-specific core bacteria associated with penguin bodies. The most abundant were: Deinococcus in the Contramaestre colony, Fusobacterium in the Tuckers 1 colony, and Clostridium sensu stricto 1 in the Tuckers 2 colony. Our results give a new perspective on the niche environmental hypothesis for wild seabirds. First, the ecological characteristics of each colony were associated with the microbial communities from the nest soil and the body surface of penguins inside the nests. For example, in the colonies with heterogenous vegetation cover (i.e. the Tuckers Islets), there was a similar microbial composition between the nest soil and the body surface of penguins. In contrast, on the more arid colony (Contramaestre), we detected differences in the microbial communities between the nest soil and the body surface of penguins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Ochoa-Sánchez
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - E Paola Acuña-Gómez
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
| | - Claudio A Moraga
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
| | - Katherine Gaete
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
| | - Jorge Acevedo
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
| | - Luis E Eguiarte
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Valeria Souza
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
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Möller L, Vainshtein Y, Meyer B, Neidhardt J, Eren AM, Sohn K, Rabus R. Rich microbial and depolymerising diversity in Antarctic krill gut. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0403523. [PMID: 38466097 PMCID: PMC10986584 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.04035-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/12/2024] Open
Abstract
With almost a quadrillion individuals, the Antarctic krill processes five million tons of organic carbon every day during austral summer. This high carbon flux requires a broad range of hydrolytic enzymes to decompose the diverse food-derived biopolymers. While krill itself possesses numerous such enzymes, it is unclear, to what extent the endogenous microbiota contribute to the hydrolytic potential of the gut environment. Here we applied amplicon sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, cultivation, and physiological assays to characterize the krill gut microbiota. The broad bacterial diversity (273 families, 919 genera, and 2,309 species) also included a complex potentially anaerobic sub-community. Plate-based assays with 198 isolated pure cultures revealed widespread capacities to utilize lipids (e.g., tributyrin), followed by proteins (casein) and to a lesser extent by polysaccharides (e.g., alginate and chitin). While most isolates affiliated with the genera Pseudoalteromonas and Psychrobacter, also Rubritalea spp. (Verrucomicrobia) were observed. The krill gut microbiota growing on marine broth agar plates possess 13,012 predicted hydrolyses; 15-fold more than previously predicted from a transcriptome-proteome compendium of krill. Cultivation-independent and -dependent approaches indicated members of the families Flavobacteriaceae and Pseudoalteromonadaceae to dominate the capacities for lipid/protein hydrolysis and to provide a plethora of carbohydrate-active enzymes, sulfatases, and laminarin- or porphyrin-depolymerizing hydrolases. Notably, also the potential to hydrolyze plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate and polylactatide was observed, affiliating mostly with Moraxellaceae. Overall, this study shows extensive microbial diversity in the krill gut, and suggests that the microbiota likely play a significant role in the nutrient acquisition of the krill by enriching its hydrolytic enzyme repertoire.IMPORTANCEThe Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a keystone species of the Antarctic marine food web, connecting the productivity of phyto- and zooplankton with the nutrition of the higher trophic levels. Accordingly, krill significantly contributes to biomass turnover, requiring the decomposition of seasonally varying plankton-derived biopolymers. This study highlights the likely role of the krill gut microbiota in this ecosystem function by revealing the great number of diverse hydrolases that microbes contribute to the krill gut environment. The here resolved repertoire of hydrolytic enzymes could contribute to the overall nutritional resilience of krill and to the general organic matter cycling under changing environmental conditions in the Antarctic sea water. Furthermore, the krill gut microbiome could serve as a valuable resource of cold-adapted hydrolytic enzymes for diverse biotechnological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars Möller
- Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Yevhen Vainshtein
- In Vitro Diagnostics, Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB), Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Bettina Meyer
- Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University Oldenburg (HIFMB), Oldenburg, Germany
- Biosciences, Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - John Neidhardt
- Department of Human Medicine, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Research Center Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - A. Murat Eren
- Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
- Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University Oldenburg (HIFMB), Oldenburg, Germany
- HIFMB-MPG Bridging Group for Marine Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
- Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Kai Sohn
- In Vitro Diagnostics, Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB), Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Ralf Rabus
- Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
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Ochoa-Sánchez M, Acuña Gomez EP, Ramírez-Fenández L, Eguiarte LE, Souza V. Current knowledge of the Southern Hemisphere marine microbiome in eukaryotic hosts and the Strait of Magellan surface microbiome project. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15978. [PMID: 37810788 PMCID: PMC10557944 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Host-microbe interactions are ubiquitous and play important roles in host biology, ecology, and evolution. Yet, host-microbe research has focused on inland species, whereas marine hosts and their associated microbes remain largely unexplored, especially in developing countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we review the current knowledge of marine host microbiomes in the Southern Hemisphere. Our results revealed important biases in marine host species sampling for studies conducted in the Southern Hemisphere, where sponges and marine mammals have received the greatest attention. Sponge-associated microbes vary greatly across geographic regions and species. Nevertheless, besides taxonomic heterogeneity, sponge microbiomes have functional consistency, whereas geography and aging are important drivers of marine mammal microbiomes. Seabird and macroalgal microbiomes in the Southern Hemisphere were also common. Most seabird microbiome has focused on feces, whereas macroalgal microbiome has focused on the epibiotic community. Important drivers of seabird fecal microbiome are aging, sex, and species-specific factors. In contrast, host-derived deterministic factors drive the macroalgal epibiotic microbiome, in a process known as "microbial gardening". In turn, marine invertebrates (especially crustaceans) and fish microbiomes have received less attention in the Southern Hemisphere. In general, the predominant approach to study host marine microbiomes has been the sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Interestingly, there are some marine holobiont studies (i.e., studies that simultaneously analyze host (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics) and microbiome (e.g., 16S rRNA gene, metagenome) traits), but only in some marine invertebrates and macroalgae from Africa and Australia. Finally, we introduce an ongoing project on the surface microbiome of key species in the Strait of Magellan. This is an international project that will provide novel microbiome information of several species in the Strait of Magellan. In the short-term, the project will improve our knowledge about microbial diversity in the region, while long-term potential benefits include the use of these data to assess host-microbial responses to the Anthropocene derived climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Ochoa-Sánchez
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | | | - Lia Ramírez-Fenández
- Facultad de Recursos Naturales Renovables, Universidad Arturo Prat, Iquique, Chile
- Centro de Desarrollo de Biotecnología Industrial y Bioproductos, Antofagasta, Chile
| | - Luis E. Eguiarte
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Valeria Souza
- Centro de Estudios del Cuaternario de Fuego, Patagonia y Antártica (CEQUA), Punta Arenas, Chile
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
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